Mahou Sensei Negima/WMG

Negima's WMG, home to insane theories, speculation and playful guesses. Feel free to get a sandwich, but don't drink anything while you're here. It's a plot to sap and impurify all your precious bodily fluids.

Negima is ending... in weekly magazine format
So far as this troper knows, this is fairly baseless straw-clutchery, but the notes on Akamatsu's blog and in the manga's final page say something along the lines of "The end of Negima's magazine run is almost here!" People have commented that this seems oddly specific. It may be that for whatever reason (another rumour - there might be a Ken Junior on the way) he can no longer devote lots of time to Negima, but he may be able to release volumes on an irregular basis. Let's pray, people.

Yue is getting a spinoff
Ken-Sama talked about possibility of a spinoff and chapter 354 fells more like a Poorly-Disguised Pilot then a penultimate chapter

"Negi" is a nickname; his real name is Nigel.

 * Negi is not a Welsh, British or English name. Nigel is.

Negi's dislike for baths are actually some kind of trauma.
Remember, he had almost drowned when he was a kid. That must have affected him in some way.

Negi has the Power of Creation.
The Lifemaker's power is referred to as "The Power of Creation and Destruction." Asuna's ability is Magic Cancel, which destroys magic when activated. This is the "Power of Destruction." Negi, as another descendant of the Lifemaker, has the "Power of Creation." Extrapolating on this leads to several other ideas:

He doesn't convince the Pactio to work, he redefines Chachamaru(and possibly similar entities) as Real(and thus possessing a soul). This is clearly within the capacity of the Power of Creation, as Pactios can be made with other constructs. Examples are Fate and the demi-humans of Mundus Magicus.
 * 1) This is why Negi was able to form a Pactio with Chachamaru. During the formation of the Pactio, his magical power surges and something which resembles a flame appears in his eyes. He goes on to think, "In fact, who cares if she is artificial, Chachamaru-san is our friend! She is real!" This statement differs from his earlier thoughts in that it is a statement of fact, not a request or demand.
 * 1) We may see Negi fighting Asuna(or someone controlling her power) at some point in the future, as the "Power of Creation" would be necessary to fight the "Power of Destruction." Another possibility would be the two cooperating to counteract the Lifemaker's complete "Power of Creation and Destruction."

Negi will ultimately become a shinso vampire.
Either in his relentless quest for more power he will find and use the ritual (though possibly with the foresight to artificially age his body first, not just an illusion) or the scroll-Evangeline  will force it upon him
 * But isn't he
 * Didn't Eva say that

Negi will learn magic swordsmanship.
He has already learned Kenpo from Ku Fei and inherited Eva's Black Magic, so his final lesson from Thousand Blades Rakan will be this, probably from some scroll or book that Jack left. Afterall, Negi has previously been shown to be able to conjure Lightning Weapons by magic, and using them as mere projectiles seem to be wasted potential. More importantly, it would be awesome to see Negi use Zankanken(Battleship Cleaver) against his enemies.
 * He's already got his Titan Slayer spell, a BFS, so he doesn't need a BFS spell.

And tying this with a previous theory, then his ultimate skill will be Unlimited Lightning-Blade Works.


 * It would be superfluous: Negi already has range and melee; he has no need to multi-class (when was the last time we saw the Caster Pistol)and it would take away from how Asuna learned Shinmei-Ryu techniques from Setsuna.

Negi will learn Gungnir and combine it with the Thousand Bolts.
And it shall be called Titano-ktononMKIII: Overkill edition.

Negi will learn gravity magic from Albireo Imma/Colonel Sanders.
If this manga has taught us anything it has taught us that if an interesting concept for the future is brought up and played for laughs, it's going to happen.-The Curious Fan

The Master of the Grave will

 * In chapter 270

Negi is going to become a Reality Warper due to his relentless quest for power.
I don't mean a Reality Warper. I mean one who can manipulate EVERYTHING. Which means he can also be Nagi in the past without being his own father - creating a Stable Time Loop.

Negi actually has more raw power and strength than either Nagi or Rakan.
He accidentally used some of it in his childhood, and inadvertently resulting in everyone in his village being turned to stone. Because of the short time between using the magic and the disaster, he subconsciously suppressed the overwhelming majority of it so that it's unusable.

Negi's "royal magic" is the ability to perform magic without an implement

 * Nagi mentions offhandidly that Arika has some kind of extremely dangerous royal magic; its been a popular assumption for a while now that Negi does too. In chapter 144, he manages to do something magical with no ring or staff. Considering Akamatsu's very strong belief in The Law of Conservation of Detail, its doubtful it was just an Ass Pull. Alternatively, it might have something to do with the power of command, even over inanimate objects (he ordered the door to open, and it did).
 * All There in the Manual: The Negima Bible spells out that focii are merely a tool to make magic easier, not a requirement. Similar to the Activation Keywords. A mage with proper training and ability can do magic without their keywords or a Focii. It's just easier with them. Proof of this being Evangeline's lack of focii (even a ring), because she's that scary.

Negi will wind up with Evangeline.
Heartbreaking as it will be for his many admirers, he won't want to be immortal and married to a mortal woman.

Negima's last chapter...
...will end with a page of Negi accidentally doing something inappropriate to whichever girl ends up with him, followed by the girl getting mad on the same page, then a 2-page shot of Negi and that girl, with the girl holding onto Negi for some reason or another, and all of the haremettes that lost looking from the background. Then the final page of the series will show a location that's important to the story and the words "The End".
 * If this were to happen, chances are that the location shown on the final page would be Wales, Mahora, the classroom, or Negi's dorm room. Also, the girl would likely meet the criteria of First Girl Wins in some fashion.
 * Ken Akamatsu's other 2 major works both did this.
 * Love Hina's last four pages match this perfectly.
 * In that case: The girl was Naru, the perverted act was, and the location was the roof of the Hinata dorm.
 * As do A.I. Love You!'s last four pages.
 * In that case: The girl was, the perverted act was his tripping into a position where he was accidentally groping her, and the location was Koube's room.

The manga is setting up for a scene similar to the one in chapter 269 between Negi and any member of his harem.
It would drive in the whole Generation Xerox subtext even further.

Negi will have to cancel all his current pactios during the final battle.
It's been suggested earlier on this page that activating an artifact drains power from the magister. Becouse Negi now has like 16 different people drawing power from him of course this is going to put him at a disadvantage against the Mot B, so the logical thing to do would be to cancel them. This will give him a MASSIVE boost in power and let him completly smash the Mage of the Beginning. Of course knowing 3-A someone (probably Paru, maybe Yuuna) will try to rejoin the fight by trying to make another pactio with either Konaka or Kotaro. Besides admit it, Paru trying to tackle Kotaro would be funny as hell.
 * Alternatively, he'll form a permanent pactio (whatever that may require) resulting in both him and his partner getting a massive stat boost (I think it's kind of implied, if not stated outright, that the permanent pactio makes the minister magi way stronger than the provisory one, remember how Asuna's "kiss on the forehead" pactio with Negi granted her only a very little increase in power?).
 * It's been established that a contract gives the ministra access to the magister's power, but how would a permanent pactio give a boost to the Magister?
 * This just ties in to the original WMG about Negi canceling other pactios, which he would have to do, if he formed a permanent one. He'd get a boost because there wouldn't be 16 other people drawing power from him anymore (again, don't know if that's exactly how it works).

Ala Alba will wield the Code of the Lifemaker or something similar.
Way too many of them seem to be weak links or open targets in a combat scenario -. Would this not be a logical way to give them a power-up?

At some later point, Evangeline will have an enemy Foil in the form of a truly, despicably evil shinso vampire
This new guy/girl will be such a Complete Monster that even Evangeline will be disgusted/horrified by his/her actions, and she will take it upon herself to kill him/her. This will also help show the goodness that Evangeline has at the core of her being.
 * Said Foil will be carrying a Forged Hero Card.

Akamatsu is planning to end Negima and continue its story in a new title.
If the Darker and Edgier storyline is what he really visioned before Executive Meddling, it's not unlikely that he has now been given more freedom in writing the story. Unfortunately, most newcomer will still remember the series as a light harem story, so his solution is to end the old manga in a cliffhanger and start a new one, probably with a permanently adult Negi, less idealistic story, and no Akamatsu Nipples.
 * Seems to be getting more and more likely. We've just finished up a huge breather arc following with only three more chapters remaining. The odds of there being a satisfying ending in just three chapters are slim. So either you're right or Akamatsu was recently slapped with a nasty Cosmic Deadline.

The next story arc will be based around...

 * The Pactios themselves. Where do they come from? Are the artifacts created out of thin air, or have they been around for centuries? Is there some sort of system to keep track of them? And can they be stolen? How many non-kiss ways are there to establish a Pactio? It's mentioned that 's Pactio Artifact is yet another Legendary Artifact - perhaps this isn't coincidence? Perhaps there's someone rigging this little magical lottery for whatever nefarious purpose?

Magic is going to be revealed before the end of the series.

 * While I think magic will be revealed at some point, your argument has a huge gaping hole in the fact that
 * Sakurako has placed a bet correctly identifying the . In order to win, the public at large must know that she is correct. It is physically impossible for Sakurako to lose a bet. Therefore, magic will be revealed to the public at large. QED.
 * This may be subverted a little bit with Chapter 322 rolling.
 * Sakurako has placed a bet correctly identifying the . In order to win, the public at large must know that she is correct. It is physically impossible for Sakurako to lose a bet. Therefore, magic will be revealed to the public at large. QED.
 * This may be subverted a little bit with Chapter 322 rolling.

Negi will obtain high office at the end.
Because really, who could gainsay him after he finishes off the various Big Bads? In fact, he might overturn the whole system of the Magic World. His Pactio title - Magistrulus Magi - "Magistrate Magician", could also translate as "Lawgiver of Mages"... He's gonna lay down the law on the Senate of Megalosembria - which is just how Chao planned it.
 * This would be a perfect way to end the series. Even without resolving the unrequited love of his class and finding his dad, though having those resolved would be better than not.
 * Plus, he's legitimate royalty and very popular with the people. And also not corrupt like all the current politicians.

Negi will re-establish the kingdom of Old Ostia at the end of the story.
And, of course, the rest of Ala Alba will end up with some sort of ridiculously high position. Notably this scenario would easily allow for Chao among other things.

Death Predictions for the manga's future

 * Evangeline (either in battle against whatever final Ultimate Evil the heroes will fight at the end (the series is set to end around Chapter 400; there's no way they'll be fighting the Lifemaker and/or Fate for that long) or giving her life in defense of Nagi and/or Negi)
 * Takamichi (again, being taken down in battle - perhaps against the Lifemaker or a member of the Megalomesembrian Senate - or sacrificing himself to save another)
 * Asuna
 * Arika
 * Nagi
 * At least one of Fate's Ministrae (maybe Tamaki sacrificing herself to save Koyomi, and dying in the latter's arms; it would be played for as much Tear-Jerking as possible)
 * One of the mundanes of Negi's class (getting caught up out of nowhere in the middle of the secret war, barely having time to ask "what's going on?" before one of Negi's foes kills her)
 * Setsuna (in defense of Konoka) (I'm particularly hoping this one doesn't come to pass, but considering how Darker and Edgier the manga's been getting...)
 * Hundreds of random innocent people (Possible, considering the casualties of the Redshirt Army)
 * I meant civilians.
 * And I meant that considering the death toll among the military, the civilians whom many doesn't have survival training will suffer even worse.

Negi will end up destroying the Masquerade
All the evidence given so far points to the destruction of the Mundus Magicus being completely inevitable. If it cannot be saved and Negi is unwilling to abadon the inhabitants, the only place to bring them would be Earth. Obviously, a billion people showing up suddenly and all of the beast people and half-demons would blow the Masquerade right open.

At least one member of Class 3-A will die before the end of things
Killed by... whoever or whatever the series' Big Bad will be.

New Ostia will crash just like the Old one
The current objective of Cosmo Entelechia for the Lifemaker to go to the place which sustains the Flying Continent and erase the magic power in it.
 * ...Dude... I predicted that five months ago! I just never put it up. I also predict that New Ostia will collapse before the good guys can get all the civilians off of it, resulting in hundreds of deaths and a massive BSOD for Negi over not being able to save them.

== By the end of the manga, Negi develops a Split Personality who is a Chaotic Lustful Heroic Sociopath, Chivalrous Pervert, Ethical Slut, Lovable Sex Maniac and Harem Seeker that would make Chamo feel either immensely proud or grossly inferior, to contrast with normal!Negi's Chaste Hero / Celibate Hero personality. ==

A major character will, before the ending, pull a Heroic Sacrifice
Likely either Takahata or Evangeline. Also, something will happen to make Eva cry openly and whole-heartedly - perhaps as a result of the sacrifice?

Evangeline will use Magica Erebia before the end.
She's the creator and if Rakan was defeated, her being released to fight without augmenting her skills would achieve nothing. Except the fight wouldn't end the same way.
 * Confirmed. Also, a previous chapter shows that she really doesn't need it.

Ako will eventually use her artifact on herself.
I previously had a moment of Fridge Brilliance about how Ako's artifact reflected her view of herself as a secondary character, serving mainly as a way to support her allies. But eventually she'll grow out of that and truly start to see herself as the "main character of her own story", just like Negi said... and that moment will be kicked off by using her artifact to boost her own abilities, finally stepping into the action herself. Or alternatively...

Ako will, at some point, use her artifact on Negi.
As an alternative (or, possibly, as a coexistent WMG) with the above about Ako's artifact, she'll use it to give Negi a boost when he inevitably fights the Lifemaker. After all, Negi did decide to, and since Rakan said that the path of light was relying on his teammates for help...

Setsuna will train under Kurt Godel
All of her frustration at not being able to defeat Tsukuyomi will eventually drive her to seek training somewhere, and as of now Kurt is the only Shinmeiryu practitioner around who isn't obviously evil. Even if he turns out to be a bad guy, she might still seek out his advice due to her angst issues.
 * What about Eishun? He still appears fighting fit.

Yue will be the mage in Negi's party that plays the role of high level artillery
Rakan shows what hard work can do. She was shown to learn fast as soon as she tried to use magic. Within one month, using nothing but standart textbooks, she became rather competent. Now, she has had her artifact back for some time, and can use her pactio to use more power. Seeing how much interest she has taken in magic, she will have used both to help her training before coming to Ostia. Since she hasn't shown any martial arts, so she won't be on the frontlines. But if someone provides cover for her, there is little to no problem with chanting for half a minute, Negi and Kotaro did that against Rakan. In short, I wouldn't be surprised if she starts a spell with "To Sumbolaion Diakoneto Moi".
 * May not be the case. Yue has demonstrated a startling ability to take down demons with a BFS, and she was fighting pretty close to the griffin during that one fight. More likely her powerset will end up looking like Nanoha's - mainly long range but with a decent selection of close-combat abilities.

Zazie's Nightmare Circus event from the festival will be shown in a flashback that explains a lot about her character.
Because Akamatsu knows how to stick it to the execs after Executive Meddling, while still pleasing the fans. Even if he did decide himself that the festival arc was too long. It would be a way to excuse himself from leaving the Nightmare Circus scene until later, and potentially use most or even all of what he had planned without being a total Big Lipped Alligator Moment.

Chao is going to send Future Asuna back in time to be with the rest of the class.
The idea that Asuna would be written out of the story is just too unlikely. She'll be back somehow.

Negi isn't really dead, the grave from 352 is a false grave
This is me clutching at straws. The spoilers for 352 revealed Asuna seeing Negi's grave. After I finally stopped saying Akamatsu is a worse Troll than Tite Kubo himself, I started thinking. Being immortal would naturally be confusing if you're around people who don't know it, and not everyone in the school is magical. Seeing Negi not age would be weird. So he kept aging up with magic until he finally appeared so old, he had to "die". Thus that grave is a false grave and Negi is now free to roam the planet and look for his father. The only other option is....

Negi is dead, but it's part of Magia Erabia's Immortality
He has to "die" temporarily while the Magia Erabia fully spreads through his body, making him fully immortal. Again, clutching at straws.

Asuna will travel back 130 years
The last time we saw Chao was the Festival Arc, with her time machine. Its possible that, just like the 'original' Chao, this Chao developed time travel - possibly at Negi's insistence. In which case, Asuna will be given the Cassiopeia and allowed to head back in time (probably after a chapter or two for drama). As for why she didn't appear in the pictures - consider, again, the 'Original' Chao that came from a 'bad' future. The world at the end of 352 is obviously not the same world. This implies that, at least over long time frames, you can't see the results of time-travel until after you've done it. With the original Chao, she was from the 'bad' future, because Negi hadn't saved the world yet. In this case, Asuna isn't in the pictures because she hasn't gone back yet. Besides, they need a way to bring back Chao for the Class-reunion finale. Confirmed

Negi became a host for The Lifemaker
He can't die, and yet vanished mysteriously... just like his father did. Now, why did Nagi disappear, again?

Negi was deliberately sent to class 2-A.
No-brainer here. Negi being sent to a class with that kind of make-up can't be a coincidence.
 * He was intended from the start to be Konoka's protector/friend/mentor. The other girls were deliberately assembled to maximize Negi's chances of finding both training and ministrae. Asuna has been intended as Negi's ministra from the time she was first rescued by Nagi and his team.
 * Evangeline is being set up to transfer her affection/stalkerhood from Nagi to Negi.
 * The assignment for Negi to teach at Mahora was all part of Nagi's Xanatos Roulette planned out years before Negi was born, all so that Negi would become close to the girls in 2-A and be prepared to start the Human Instrumentality Project that was predicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the very act Chao came back to prevent!
 * ...What? I can't be the only one who thinks those demons soldiers look just a bit like Eva units.
 * So... how exactly does Chao exist if she's coming back to prevent Instrumentality?

Class 2-A is where Mahora deliberately placed all the "abnormal" students.
It would explain why there are so many weird people in one place. The school collected them in one class to keep an eye on them. Goes hand-in-hand with the idea that the class was created to find Negi a partner.
 * Well, the previous teacher was "Death Glasses Takamachi".
 * Some people, like Eva, Chachamaru, and Nagase are placed there for obvious reasons.
 * Some students who appear normal, such as Konoka, Yue, and Nodoka, were placed in the class because they have the ability to learn magic and possibly become mages.
 * Everyone who is unaccounted for by the first two categories is either being protected or hidden from magical enemies, or is suffering from Laser-Guided Amnesia.
 * Chisame is the exception. She was put there either by accident or because there was no room anywhere else.
 * Possibly, she was put there preemptively because she was considered Genre Savvy and otherwise cunning enough to break through The Masquerade. This theory also explains Asakura and Paru being in 2-A. Why the hell else would you put those two, of all people, anywhere near something you were keeping secret? The Powers That Be figured that it was inevitable they'd figure it out anyway, and so they put them in the centre of the madness to contain it.
 * No no no. Chisame was more dangerous than anyone else before the Laser-Guided Amnesia; so not only was she given that, but she also was psychically conditioned to run screaming at the sight of "fantasy" in the real world.
 * Mahora Academy is already a covert magic-teaching school. Furthermore, there are weird students elsewhere (all those ki-using martial artists, for one thing). Class 2-A is a representative sample of the student body as a whole. Scary, no?
 * There are other mages in the student body, such as Takane, Moe and Mei. It does appear, however, that the vast majority of the students are Muggles (as seen in the end of the School Festival arc). This presents two possibilities:
 * 1) Most of the students have supernatural potential but don't know it.
 * 2) 2-A is indeed a disproportionate sample where they placed those "abnormal" students who weren't already working for them. Misora might have been tossed in with that lot for disciplinary infractions...
 * A bit of support for that: "maho(u)" is the Japanese word for "magic".

Eva's dream that Negi saw near the beginning of the series was fake or not accurate
In the dream, Nagi traps Eva in a pit filled with water, onions, and garlic, or as he puts it, "your weaknesses". However, Eva later states or at least implies that she was no longer affected by vampire weaknesses. Also, looking at her memories implies that she met Nagi alone in the wilderness. However, the fake Eva later seems to be familiar with at least some members of the Ala Rubra: Albireo Imma, Jack Rakan, Ricardo. Rakan knows enough to semi-copy the Magica Erebea (although that could just be him imitating a technique that he's seen and should technically have no way of being able to copy), and has a scroll containing the degraded version of Eva's soul. It would be difficult to imagine that Eva knew these Ala Rubra members and not know who Nagi was. And plus, from what we've seen from Eva, it'd just be stupid for her to lose the way that she did.
 * She is smart and powerful enough to use the fact that she looks like a ten year old to her advantage. That dream could be a remnant from that era. Or it could simply be a dream which is a distorted reflection of reality.
 * My guess is that the actual battle was probably more dramatic, but it was still such a traumatic experience (the man you love rejects you, and then kicks your ass, leading to what is probably Eva's first defeat in centuries), that when her subconscious brings it up in her dreams, everything is exaggerated. It probably wasn't that bad, but she's embarrassed and ashamed by it, so that's what her dreams reflect.

Sayo Aisaka was killed by...

 * Accident, by someone important. They're covering up her death, which is why she is a ghost and why no one seems interested in how she died.
 * The Headmaster, in his younger days.
 * Flying time monkeys. She was born sometime in the future but, because of all the screwing around with time travel, died sixty years ago.
 * The Kempeitai or the magical equivalent thereof.
 * The main hole in that theory is that everyone in Japan was away on vacation about sixty years ago.
 * ...in China.
 * Evangeline.
 * The same magical authorities to whom Negi reports.
 * Chamo, back when he was human, which is why he was sentenced to ermine-dom.
 * Chao, either because Chao remembers her as being dead and thus killed her as part of a stable-time-loop, or as a Xanatos Gambit of some kind - possibly to get Asakura acclimated to the supernatural.
 * According to bonus info in the volume Sayo was introduced in, her planned backstory was that she was killed by a serial killer. Of course, that may have been abandoned.
 * Her own clumsiness. (After all, she did manage to trip without feet...)
 * She was a human sacrifice in some dark ritual.
 * Tuberculosis, possibly magically induced to provide the "unfinished business" measure (such as the human sacrifice in some dark ritual to cure at outbreak at Mahora).(Ukitake may or may not be involved.) Alternately, polio! (see below WMG)

Evangeline set up her imprisonment.
Evangeline's stated desires: To drink Negi's blood when she feels like it, to pound on Negi (or others) for hours on end for the humiliations she's suffered (when she feels like it), to get to cut loose with some semblance of her full powers (again...), and to have suitable lieutenants for her future "reign of evil". From observation, we can add: To have added security and protection (over her previous, empowered state) in a dangerous world where she's made lots of enemies, to have True Companions whom she can still treat as unwanted freeloaders (when she feels like it), and to not ruin her chances with Nagi. By deliberately going through the standard Dark Magical Girl Heel Face Turn, she's well on her way to getting all of these things, more or less, with the blessings of the good guys.
 * Literal Chessmaster (with bonus points for being a gaijin Go master). After seeing the headmaster play Stealth Mentor and Eva as we-think-a-minor-villain, in the next arc we get the impression they regularly play Go, and that she regularly and casually wins these matches. She's accustomed to Obfuscating Stupidity of varying forms to covertly feed as a vampire, and can fake little-girl tantrums and take "jobs".
 * She's old enough to have seen that The Power of Friendship works better in the long term than the survival strategy she grew up with of being the most aggressive and vicious villain around. Her mouthpiece Chachazero (taunting the talisman user from the Kyoto arc) praises the ideal of total commitment in the face of unavoidable sacrifice and risk. Eva could choose a road this rough, especially if she's still free to complain about being "forced" into it afterwards.
 * She spent enough time stalking Nagi to know that he wouldn't kill her, wouldn't irreparably harm her, and would protect her when necessary after defeating her; with access to his communications with the Mahora headmaster, she could have guessed or even influenced where she'd end up.
 * Like Hogwarts from Harry Potter, the safest place in the world (if you have both known supernatural enemies and basic self-defense skills) is Mahora... and the only safe way to reside there is licitly. She survived fifteen years depowered (with the word possibly out about that condition), which suggests it wasn't a foolhardy decision. There's even lots of magic-enriched blood around to drain, making her depowering less absolute.
 * There are hints (from Nagi during their showdown and from her interactions with Takamichi) that she was from the outset offered an under-the-table job as night security at Mahora, giving her freedom of movement and chances to feed, and encouraging illicit access to the security and surveillance systems (and student records) in exchange for preventing anything that might make the Muggle-run school paper. Most of the mages on staff know nothing about this, as Nagi's endorsement wouldn't mean much to them.
 * Between some access to magic and some influence with the most likely candidates to have secretly set up Negi to come to Mahora, she could have stacked that deck. And if she had just wanted a quick feed, she would have gone for his sister. Instead...
 * She makes sure Negi is a Papa Wolf and no lethal threat to her before she confronts him and takes the necessary DMG Defeat Means Friendship fall. If it weren't for the huge Villain Ball around her neck, this would be textbook stealth mentor—she tells him just what he needs to do to protect himself (in general, not just for her), scares him enough that he does kiss a girl, and deliberately matches his fighting style and power (though we see that enough that it could just be her quirk). It's questionable whether the fall at the end would have killed her or just stuck her at the river's bottom in a broken body until the next full moon... and as for that Villain Ball, it's there in her (Kyoto) rescue scene, but planned for and controlled. Negi's trying to tackle her (if he died, everything would be ruined) was the one thing which came close to upsetting her.
 * Knowing Negi's skill level, his chance (with his class there) of getting accidentally killed as opposed to needing some serious rescuing, and Konoka's heritage (all things she has to know by this point), she proposes the Kyoto field trip. She has plenty of time to ensure that nobody from Mahora is going to be free to rescue Negi. It's unlikely that she predicted she'd get the chance to come out and play, or just how close the bad guys got, but those weren't the point. Negi is facing real danger, spotting the "If I wanted you dead..." subtext in their fight, and coming to Eva for training/draining/braining... almost certain. The inner-inner circle at Mahora accepting her slowly regaining her power from this? Also almost certain. Her getting tasked to play host, teacher, and eventual True Companion (at least for mutual self-protection, which is the important point) to other students who could presumably have been assigned to the official teachers? Also predictable.

Mana trained at some point in a room similar to Eva's resort
Thats why she looks older than the other girls.

Asuna was a human who was forcefully bestowed with the power of the lifemaker.

 * She's actually one of the oldest being in the Magic World, having existed not long after the Magic World was created. She was periodically mind-wiped(or the power affected her memory) and the power somehow prevented her from aging. After Ala Rubra rescued her, they managed to modify the power, allowing her to age. This would make Eva's envy of her more obvious...

Asuna is immortal, but a spell was used on her that allows her to grow at a normal rate for a while.
We know that she looked like a kid at a time when her age was over 100. We also see her looking pretty much the same when going to Japan with Takahata. However, she seems to be growing normally now. The reason here could easily be that a spell was cast on her that allows her body to mature until she has the body of a ~20 year old or something. Of course, if this is true, then Negi should still be able to mature even if whatever he's become would keep him at that age. Of course, Eva would be pissed that she hadn't somehow managed to hear about that spell if this is the case.
 * Alternatively, she isn't actually aging. A highly complex illusion was cast on her to give that appearance; at some point her anti-magic will kick into overdrive and eliminate it, revealing her true form of a five year old.

Negi is not related to Nagi
But he was raised to think that he was, because...
 * Nature vs. Nurture. They wanted to raise another Thousand Master, and they needed him to be motivated and believe in himself enough to accomplish this goal. It's a plot by the Philosophers, who gave him recessive genes as well.
 * By Chao's time, they'd refined this technique down to VR training and soul tattoos.
 * And then we have Kotaro, who was given all the superior, dominant genes, but was told he had the recessive genes to make him feel inferior so he would push himself harder. They're both just being manipulated by Fate, who got the perfect mix of both. It takes a well-balanced individual like him to destroy the world.[[WMG: Amagasaki Chigusa is actually a veryMagical world
 * Negi was the son of some Big Bad, and they didn't want him to turn out like his parent.
 * Evangeline, perhaps.
 * So much Squick added with that line of thought...
 * To clarify:
 * It should be noted that the source of this revelation was Governor Kurt "Liar Liar Pants On Fire" Godel. Just saying.
 * The real Negi died all those years back in the village; the 'Negi' we know was one of his childhood friends pulling a Dead Person Impersonation and possibly Becoming the Mask.
 * Nagi's blood type is O, while Negi's is AB, which shouldn't be possible if they're father and son.
 * Could be Handwaved. Magic, You Fail Biology Forever, etc.
 * Yes, the blood types were probably assigned by personality without regard to the laws of inheritance. But if the laws of heredity mean anything at all, that bloodtype mismatch confirms the main theory.
 * Not necessarily. We don't know his mother's blood type, and he could have inherited from her in that regard. My father is type B, I'm type O. That doesn't mean I'm not related to him, it means my mother is type O.
 * Not possible in Negi's case, O blood type means having both recessive alleles for the O blood type (ii) and having an AB blood type means having the A and B alleles combined (AB). We know for sure that Nagi has no A or B alleles so there's no way his children can be AB, Negi's mother is irrelevant in this case.
 * Negi died in that attack, and something else walked away.
 * Thank you very much, you have just given me nightmares.
 * Think about it. Pactio requires a kiss. All of Nagi's pactio partners were male. Ergo...
 * One of the characters actually lampshades this. A kiss might not be the only way to form a Pactio though.
 * One of the characters actually lampshades this. A kiss might not be the only way to form a Pactio though.

Nekane is Negi's mother.
She keeps the "older sister" play so that Negi won't think it's okay to do it with girls so young. Lots of Squick here.
 * Or she's just been using the Magical De-Aging Pills.
 * Nagi can't face her; that's why he's hiding. Ala Rubra got disbanded and Takamichi's teacher killed when they tried to force Nagi to take responsibility.
 * Alternatively, Nekane busted out her Woman Scorned when Ala Rubra tried to help Nagi evade responsibility, and Takamichi's teacher got wasted.
 * Realistically, given that, it makes some sense that she would leave the magic world and disguise herself. It also makes sense that she would be willing to essentially raise Negi after Nagi disappeared.
 * To restate in light of current info: Nekane is Negi's mother Arika in disguise.
 * Anya and other characters note Asuna and Nekane look alike. Tosaka even noted that it's funny that Arika was supposed to have died eight years before Negi was even born. Then laughs, saying that it looks like she fooled everyone. So yeah, everyone assumes she's dead but her actual status is rather vague.
 * Not to mention that it would be an effective way to hide them both, and fits the timeline. And this way Arika gets to remain with her son. Also gives an additional reason why the village was attacked, if the Senate wants to destroy the Royal Family, it would take out the Queen and Prince in one fell swoop.
 * Which explains even more why Nagi is so pissed at the demons for attacking, and why he's so crushed when he has to leave again.
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia may have been a part of it. Or Arika's a really good actress.
 * One should also note that while everyone else in the village is petrified almost instantly (or at least really fast), Nekane appears to be resistant to it, which would make sense if she's related directly to Asuna.

Shizuna is actually Arika in disguise.
Look at the series page image. In the middle looking all dramatic are Evangeline, Takahata, Zazie, and Shiizuna. All of those characters have been revealed to be something incredibly more than mundane - except for Shiizuna. Given his delivery of Zazie's secrets, this kind of long-prepared swerve would be absolutely up Akamatsu's ally.

Negi is Nagi's son by artificial insemination.
And Sons of the Thousand Master and in heavy demand.

Ako is related to Fate somehow.
They are physically similar enough that they could be siblings or cousins or something. Fate attempted to kill her or something in the past, resulting in the scar (and trauma related to the scar); she was placed in Negi's class so that she would be protected by Negi and the other abnormally powerful students.
 * Also the Chekhov's Gunman comment above.
 * Fate claims to have been created.
 * If someone created Fate, who's to say that they couldn't have made Ako too? That would make them 'siblings'. She got her scar when she went rogue and their mutual creator sent her 'brother' to take her out.
 * Maybe he's a Replacement Goldfish for her brother or something.
 * Or maybe Fate and Ako are the Last of His Kind, and Ako who was sent to the human world and adopted by a human family to have a 'normal' life.
 * So when she inevitably develops her powers or becomes a Pactio partner, she'll be Hancock Izumi?

Asuna is Nekane's mother.
She's implied to be around 27-32 now, at least, by some fans. When she was seemingly around...8-ish is when she showed up at Mahora. This allows us to subract that much from her "age" and learn how long she's been at Mahora. That would put her at at roughly 19-27 when she initially showed up at Mahora. Despite the squick involved, it's entirely possible for her to have had a child Nekane's age a few years earlier, when she would've been between 13-22. (Assuming Nekane herself is at least 15 or 16 now. Thirteen is the age of consent in some parts of Japan. It'd be far less squicky there than it would be in the west.)

It's implied that Takamichi erased Asuna's memories somehow, but it's never stated he did it all at once. It's possible that she may have spent some time in Wales after having Gato erased from her mind. She could then fall in love with an apparently lolicon man and have Nekane. Later, it's decided that it would be safer to erase her memory and send her to Mahora and away from her daughter - possibly when Nagi died. Even if Nekane had spent around 5 years with her mother, she'd remember very little now due to being too young. Even what she does remember would be of a loli Asuna, not one seemingly her age. If Asuna is Negi's aunt, this would explain why Nekane looks about as much like her as Negi does to Nagi, as well as their relationship as cousins.

Additionally, when the village was attacked, while Stan petrified only a few moments after being hit, Nekane only petrified up to her legs at that point. The petrification was implied to have continued, as "Nagi" states he has stopped it after fighting off an army of demons. Stan, who is implied to be a stronger mage then Nekane, petrified in moments despite logically having a stronger magic barrier; Nekane took what could be as long as an hour just to petrify more of her legs. This could easily be a sign of a weaker version of Magic Cancel inherited from her mother.
 * Well, now that the tournament is over, maybe we'll get some answers about Negi's parents.

Asuna can age-shift at will, and is Arika's mother
We all know Ken Akamatsu loves both Ship Tease and ZigZaggingTropes. First he made us think that Asuna was Negi's aunt... then he reveals that she's really too old for that. This is the logical next step in the "are they or are they not sexually compatible in a social sense" zigzag. The opportunity for grandma jokes also almost too good to pass up.

Princess Arika is Evangeline.
The resemblence is uncanny. The way that she ended up attacking Nagi and got trapped in Mahora is that...well, maybe something went funky with her memories. Explains her fixation with Nagi, at any rate.
 * Others have come up with wilder guesses with less, so ... But Only Six Faces, and Princess Arika and Evangeline don't have similar personalities.
 * Eva has an alibi. She was still on her island fortress thingy, being evil or lonely. Arika seems too grounded in the royalty, too much personal history, to secretly be an immigrant vampire.
 * Unless Arika/Evangeline just makes everyone around believe that she is a princess with some form of hypnosis. After all, she had several hundreds of years to learn every skill possible. She is still lonely because she cannot tell this to anyone. This leaves the questions of whether there is a real princess Arika and what happened to her when Eva took her place.
 * This could explain why Rakan and the other members of the Ala Rubra seem to know Evangeline. Both Rakan and Theo both have a scroll that contains fake Eva, both Rakan and Albireo Imma seem to have met her before, Rakan knows a bit about the Magica Erebea, and the fake Eva from Theo's scroll seems to be familiar with the other members of Ala Rubra gathered there.
 * The other possibility is that Evangeline is a cover identity for Arika which was concocted to protect her from the Senate. In this case, her "history" with Nagi would be entirely an act (after all, everything we've heard about her history has come from Ala Rubra members), and her actions during the main story would have been motivated by wanting to train and protect Negi. The child appearance would then be a disguise, and the adult appearance her true self. According to this theory, Nagi and Evangeline deliberately arranged for her to be "imprisoned" in the Mahora campus, in a disguised form, to protect her from Senate agents. They may have had the help of the Ala Rubra.
 * This could also explain why Evangeline keeps claiming to be eeeeeevil.
 * As of vol. 30, Evangeline has said that she met Nagi "after he was already married", so her identity could have been invented at that point - but the flaw in this is that she was only with two Ala Rubra members at the time, so she had no reason to deceive them. Two possibilities present themselves: one, the Ala Rubra changed her memories to protect her, or two, the Ala Rubra weren't aware of her own private masquerade and only she and Nagi knew that it was fake.
 * False memories is the most likely explanation; remember that Negi visited one of her dreams, and it collaborated her present identity. Of course, given that other people have heard of her, it would also mean that between her false memories being given and her being sealed in Mahora, she went on a murderous rampage...

Arika is either Negi's childhood friend Anya or maybe his 'sister'
Anya would be an excellent cover, first of all, Cocolova is a rather weird name that may come from any number of countries, so there is a decent chance she isn't from Wales (or England, or even an english speaking country). Then her personality is completely opposite of what we know of Arika, but who knows how she turned out after being completely free for a while, and it would be a rather nice cover too. I'm not sure about his 'sister', but it would fit so obviously that it's just too likely
 * Anya is Russian iirc. She isn't supposed to be Welsh/English. Honestly, does Negi's name sound Welsh either? But that's a different point, lets avoid that one. Ahem. And I would say his cousin was secretly Arika except that it does seem a little too obvious. That was a WMG from ages back before we knew anything at all about her to begin with. Although this troper suspects that it really isn't Arika... Negi was called the last of the Ostian blood line. So who the hell is she then?
 * She's Chao's mom, and Future!Asuna.

Arika is disguised/concealed as Akira

 * We have two women who wear their hair in a Hime Cut, have exceptional strength and speed, and a usually placid exterior that conceals a great deal of emotion. Akira is reluctant to kiss Negi even though she cares about him a great deal. Why? Because she unconsciously realizes that this is her son.
 * Best of all, this is something that the Japanese readership would never see coming, because the similarity between the two names isn't apparent in Japanese! Mixing up parts of syllables like this is just Not Done.

Evangeline is tied to Arika somehow.
Maybe not the same person as said above, but Arika is the Queen of Calamity. Evangeline is the Apostle of Calamity. Both fell in love with Nagi. Evangeline spent time in the magical world or at least some of her artifacts made it there where she is well known.

Ayaka is Negi's sister.
There's a couple hints towards this.
 * 1) Canonically she feels more big sisterly towards Negi than anything. Her romance rating is surprisingly low on the love charts.
 * 2) Ayaka thinks Negi is like the little brother she would have had and treats him accordingly. Mostly.
 * 3) Negi is exactly the right age to be the little brother that died.
 * 4) Ayaka looks a lot like like Arika and took an instant interest in Asuna.
 * 5) The plot has kept her strangely out of the way for a character who by all rights ought to be someone important.
 * 6) This one is just a personal suspicion, but Ayaka's shotacon attitude towards Negi is not portrayed as something to be taken seriously at all. Thus, it may be an attempt to keep the two paired in the minds of readers for future Fridge Brilliance on reveal but done in a way that makes it harder to ship them together and thus eliminate any hint of Brother-Sister Incest. Well, as much as possible anyway.

Zazie is related to Zect.
Semi similar name, she's not a normal human, her occasionally demonic appearance. Weird ghost creatures etc. Plus, apparently she's supposed to have some role or another in the final arc.

The Lifemaker is Izanagi and the Gravekeeper is Izanami
First, his daughter is known as Amateru, which is an alternate reading of the goddess Amaterasu. Amaterasu was born from Izanagi, basically, after Izanagi fled the underworld and Izanami. One point of the story of Izanagi is that while Izanami ends life, Izanagi creates it. Thus, the Lifemaker and the Gravekeeper. If this is the case, then opposite of Amateru (and her pactio partner) would be Tsukuyomi, but presumably not the psycho swordswoman. The strongest argument against this is probably that this would be incredibly obvious to the Japanese, and indeed the relationships here are clearly intended to parallel those of the deities.

Konoka is some kind of Empath.
In chapter 206,  Seriously, that does not seem normally possible.
 * Nah, nothing new for an ojou.

The bells Asuna wears in her hair have some sort of magic power.
You explain how they've survived all the Clothing Damage that she's suffered.
 * Explicitly stated a few times that they were a gift from Takamichi, and that they have the power to either summon him or let him know where she is when rung.

(Insert Girl Here) is Not a Normal Human.
Some of this is obvious (Kaede being a Ninja, for example), but many of the girls who have not yet been focused on also show signs of a supernatural origin:
 * Akira Okochi: Tall, Dark and Bishoujo, rather quiet, too. Has shown the ability to catch up with a character using a magic artifact to run on top of the water, and jump several feet into the air (in midair, yet!).
 * I once read a fanfic that subscribed to this portion of this theory. The author's answer? Akira's a sealed water elemental. Here's a link.
 * Chizuru Naba: Gentle and motherly, adopts half-demon Kotaro pretty much on a whim. Slaps a high-ranking demon for threatening her "kid" and not only knocks him out of his attack, but also bloodies his nose (impressive, considering that guys like him usually have barriers up during battle to avoid that kind of thing). Despite doing his best not to attract undue attention to his actions, the Demon subsequently kidnaps her too, despite her not being anywhere near his list of assigned targets.
 * The Nosebleed and kidnapping might be related. Alternate interpretation.
 * Sakurako Shiina: Appears to have improbably good luck. Every time that there has been some kind of contest or competition based on a random element, such as a lottery or drawing, Sakurako has won it. Her luck is so extreme, it allowed her and a small band of "ordinary" girls from school to find the (mystically obscured) gateway Negi and the White Wing were about to use to go to the Magical World just in time to ("accidentally") go with them.
 * Or, she knows exactly what she's doing. She's not lucky so much as she's a master of the Xanatos Gambit / Xanatos Roulette, with a touch of Obfuscating Stupidity.
 * It was noted during Yuuna's Flashback that they (Yuuna and Shiina) are appearently childhood friends, and since Yuuna appears to be a sheltered mageling, it could very well be that Shiina is as well and her luck is just an afterglow of it.
 * Negi's reaction to his Muggle students' presence at the gateport suggests that Fate had hacked the system to allow unmonitored movement.
 * Keep in mind that while Shiina found the gate, she was also lucky enough not to get caught in it and sent to the other side.
 * There must be a good reason why the Narutaki twins look and act like ten-year-old children when they are older than the likes of Konoka and Chisame.
 * The Narutaki twins are demon princesses. When the twins were under the impression that Negi might be a prince, they seemed more excited than any of the other girls. The twins fear ghosts, and the supernatural would fall in line with the typical ironic jokes in the manga. After all, having heirs to a demon king be deathly afraid of ghosts and monsters would be funny.
 * Continuing this line of thought: In their joke-pactio card, it is written that their special attack is a splitting technique; but we all know that they suck at it. But what if they aren't "real" twins? What if they are the same person (or demon)? They might just be split. The twins were conveniently left out of the Magic-world arc—because if they went to that world, their magic powers would have to be revealed, or demons or people there would recognize them for what/who they are.
 * The most logical explanation would be that they're actually one demon with splitting powers, but they somehow got stuck in separate forms. It explains why they would be so weak, their power is divided and whatever power keeps them apart prevents them from combining their abilities for full power. It also explains why they got a single botched pactio card when they both kissed Negi. Everyone seems to operate on a one-card-per-person basis, so the twins must actually be a single person. Alternately, they might be a Hive Mind of some sort, but that got separated into two distinct minds, or maybe a single soul spread across 2 bodies.
 * Heck, even the mundanes... Insert Girl Here is a sleeper agent for Insert Faction Here. Kinda like The Manchurian Classmate.
 * Maybe to go with the above theory that Negi is Nagi and also the Big Bad, the sleeper agent(s?) are there to terminate Negi/Nagi when he gets out of line.
 * Akira Okochi: her superstrength and superspeed were tacked on with the brainwashing to provide her with the edge needed to get the job done.
 * Ako Izumi She's got the scar, the weird appearance, and the lack of backstory. She may be a sleeper agent, or she may be the Negima equivalent of Jason Bourne.
 * The Izumi Identity.
 * Fund it!
 * NO! Write it!
 * Ako is a fallen angel that lost her memories. This Troper wonders why nobody thought of it before.
 * Misa Kakizaki and Madoka Kugimiya They seem to be the only pure Muggles who seem to have no idea about the weirdness around them left! Man, is that suspicious! Just you wait. Misa will turn out to be Arika (Misa's the one with the reverse Wife Husbandry plan, while Arika ); Meanwhile, Madoka will uhh... turn out to be Kotarou's long-lost sister? I got nothing.
 * She's Nodoka's long lost sister. They have similar sounding names and both have dark hair. It would make a great unreveal. Everybody in the class is revealed to have some magic power or something and then when we get to Madoka it's something really anticlimactic.
 * How much you want to bet that Sayo Aisaka died as a human sacrifice in a dark ritual? Quite possibly voluntarily?
 * Would that make her an incarnation/equivalent of Hanyuu? Auu~

One or both of Chisame's parents will turn out to be mages

 * Because hey, it'd be funny, considering Chisame's views on the magical existence she's found herself sucked into ("Normal people are a precious commodity in our class!", etc). Just imagine her reaction upon finding out...

Chisame will, however reluctantly, learn (at the very least) basic magic
...because she's gonna need an alternative source of power for her artifact in case all electronics in the area suddenly got fried or she got stranded in an area devoid of electronics(again).

Akira is a mermaid on land.
Which explains her quietness, finesse in water, and loving nature to her friends.
 * Maybe she's a Kappa (Water Demon), kind of like Setsuna.
 * Setsuna's more bird than kappa. Note the wings.
 * I think the salient point was "Demon", hence "kind of like".
 * Maybe she's a Rusalka; fortunately, she's at an all-girls school, and so there's no young men around to drown. (Negi doesn't count - he's too young.)
 * Takamichi survived teaching her because he's just that Badass.
 * Jossed. Or rather, Inverted. Her pactio item effectively turns her into a Mermaid in water.

Akira is hiding something
We all know this. She's dodging any chances to get a pactio. Kicks nearly (if not most) of the class asses and is just plain weird. Whether or not she knows what's with her something ain't right with this chick. My guess is that she ain't human. I don't know what she may be, but I KNOW she ain't human. Maybe she's a water nymph. Or maybe she's possessed by a evil water sprit that only comes out when Akira gets REALLY mad, and she knows this and knows if she gets a pactio it will unseal the water sprit, sending her on a rampage of PURE EVIL and is afraid she will kill someone. Or maybe she has a split personality that has MAJOR feelings for Negi which made her like Negi and is afraid she'll double-cross her friends if she gets a pactio by giving Negi a super long non-pactio kiss in front of them because her feelings for him will multiply causing her to do something like that, ruining her friendship with Ako Makie and Yuuna, as well as others. Maybe she was brainwashed as a child and that's the reason with the abnormality. Maybe she's more normal NOW then she was as a child and mellowed out as she got older or... something. Imagine chapter 166. Then imagine the violence in there multiplied to 100. Now imagine a child Akira (around 5 or 6 or 7... or 8 or 9... or 10) doing ALL THAT DAMAGE. To her classmates. Over something VERY silly. In the classroom. During the middle of a lesson. Then skips out of the classroom for lunch.

Negima occurs in Akamatsu's own Nasuverse
Negima has references to both A.I. Love You or Ai ga Tomaranai and Love Hina. Plus Mei Sakura could be Naru's little sister. The Aoyama clan and the Shinmeryuu were explicitly mentioned. Also Seta and Haitani cameos. The rumor of two AI specialist siblings are AI Love You's Hitoshi Kobe and Yayoi Kobe. The Net World is depicted as the same as AI Love You in Negima.
 * Love Hina has references to AI Love You via Love Hina's Sara McDougal and AI Love You's Cindy McDougal.
 * Santa Claus' of the one shot manga Itsudatte My Santa are mages that does not enforce the Masquerade. They do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Mage Associations and Magic World authorities. The Yakuza thugs that appeared in Love Hina also appeared in Itsudatte My Santa.
 * Ground Defense Force Mao-chan whose character designs and story was made by Ken Akamatsu occurs years after Love Hina.
 * Volume 29 Q & A confirmed that we saw Motoko Aoyama and her sister in one panel, when Konaka was little.

Nodoka created The Game.
Nodoka's artifact can reveal critical information simply by asking her target for that information, even if the target has no intention of revealing said information... as long as the target thinks of that bit of information. (Which, for various psychological reasons, is pretty much a near-given.) Chances are, if the target thus thinks of that information, the target has "lost". Noticing the power of her artifact in being able to do this, she decided to test its powers by creating an analogical "game", and seeing how many people would lose this "game" simply because they thought about it when it was mentioned. Her "game" then somehow became very popular, and became The Game as we know it. (Of course, since her artifact also reveals her own thoughts, Nodoka is very well aware that she herself has lost The Game.)

Rakan is an Exalted
...probably a Dragon-blooded. He's fought spirits, faced down a dragon, is completely over-the-top and apparently has a Willpower Perfect Defence that blocks anything as long as he activates it in time.

The Negiverse is a Parallel Universe to Star Wars, on a smaller scale.
Magic developed instead of The Force, meaning that the characters interact a bit differently, but there are still a lot of parallels. For one, the whole war that Nagi fought in is analoguous to the Clone Wars. Lets look at the main characters. The minor characters aren't quite as clear cut, but still: I'm sure we could find other parallels if we looked over the EU some more.
 * The Lifemaker = Palpatine. They're both black cloak wearing, Big Bad characters who engineered a war through a Government Conspiracy for their own gain.
 * Nagi = Anakin. In this timeline he realized that Lifemaker/Palpy was evil, and fought on the other side. He easily fits the whole "chosen one" position, is more powerful than anyone else, and ends up in the same relationship with...
 * = Amidala. Lets see, the queen of a country/planet who takes personal action to protect her people; married to the main hero.
 * Negi = Luke. Son of the hero of the previous generation, raised by relatives after the parents go missing, trains with the intent of following in his father's footsteps, eventually aims to take on the Big Bad himself after training with his father's old allies. And has a similar relationship with...
 * Asuna = Leia. Action Girl, similar Plucky Girl attitudes,, starts a potentially romantic relationship with the current lead which.
 * Evangeline = Yoda. Really Seven Hundred Years Old, likes to screw with their pupils, both are smaller than average but still extremely powerful and are considered top tier, if not as strong as in their younger days.
 * Rakan = Obi-Wan. Briefly trains the son of his close friend, is a master-class fighter, fought on the frontlines of the war, both are known for their defensive strength, and
 * Kotaro = Han Solo/Chewie in one character. Hot-Blooded, tends to rush into things, used to use questionable means of making a living but joined with the hero, is covered with fur depending on the situation.
 * Fate = The apprentices of Palpatine. Rather emotionless like Darth Maul, and quite arrogant like Dooku. He may be doing a Body Surf, which is remeniscient of Palpatine's clone-hopping in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
 * Chachamaru = R2D2/C3PO (mostly R2, except for form and speech capability). Humanoid robot with a distinct personality, ability to interface with electronics, has a jetpack, and is capable of manifesting numerous abilities and weapons on demand.
 * Takamichi = Bail Organa. Acquintance of the great hero who later takes care of the hero's female child relative to put her away from danger.

Library Island was designed and built by Bloody Stupid Johnson!
Because who in their right mind would build a library like that, with crawl spaces lined with books, a waterfall going over a set of bookshelves, bookshelves that are so high you have to be a mountaineer to get up or down them, a lake, and several booby traps?!
 * The library was most likely built by mages, who were expecting the readers to be able to fly. And they might have built it in hurry, so it wasn't meant to give access to the books as much as simply store them. Because they were saving the library from a war. Based on what was said about a library being expanded because they had to hide books from a war.
 * Alternatively, the library is magical or even alive and builds itself. It doesn't need any readers, so it doesn't bother being convenient.
 * Following that idea: Gunnerkrigg Court is Library Island's cousin.
 * Or, the library is so labyrinthine and dangerous for the same reason the Unseen U library is Bigger on the Inside: books warp space and libraries do strange things to dimensional borders.
 * I propose it was created by Dwarves. Think about it. Massive labyrinthine underground structure filled with pointless death traps and bizarre design decisions. And a few forgotten beasts at the lower levels. Or it might have been a fort that failed at some point and was later reclaimed by evil librarians.

Evangeline A.K. McDowell is Altrouge Brunestud.
All we know about Altrouge is that she's half Dead Apostle and half True Ancestor and able to pass as a fourteen-year-old girl. Eva was human before she was turned into a vampire by magic (and therefore is a Dead Apostle), but also refers to herself as a True Ancestor (and others corroborate this), and is in a class of fourteen-year-old girls. "Evangeline A.K. McDowell" is her original name; "Altrouge Brunestud" is a title granted to her as the Alternative to Arcueid as the heir of Crimson King Brunestud (Eva's pretty vain and decided "Altrouge" sounded better than "Altcrim").

When Evangeline was first turned into a vampire, she really was a "normal" vampire, although exceptionally strong as she regained full sentience within a day (not unlike Yumizuka Satsuki). She used her new-found powers to hunt down the magus who turned her, thereby becoming a full Dead Apostle. Eventually, though, she invented the heretical technique Magia Erebea, which requires that one "accept the world as it is" in order to "fuse magic with the user's soul", and prolonged use is explicitly stated to induce "evolution into a higher life form". Magic, or rather, magecraft is the art of drawing in mana to fuel one's spells and is explicitly referred to as "the Power of the World". In Nasuverse terms, Magia Erebea is a technique that merges "the Power of the World" with the user's soul, forcing the user's internal logic closer to the logic of the World - in other words, a proto-Marble Phantasm. In the case of Negi, a human, this was sufficient to transform him (possibly permanently) into a Lightning Elemental; Eva, a Dead Apostle with the blood of the True Ancestors running in her veins, was able to gain the powers of a True Ancestor, herself. Elementals and True Ancestors are both noted as wielders of Marble Phantasms in the Nasuverse, so this would be a perfect explanation for how Eva/Alt can be both Dead Apostle and True Ancestor.

Chamo is an assumed name
Chamo, short for Chamomile, sounds like the kind of name someone came up with in a rush.
 * At least it doesn't stand for Chamillionaire... or does it?
 * It's a Line-of-Sight Name.

Chamo is a former mage who was punished for exposing magic to Muggles.
It isn't much of a stretch; the threat of turning mages who break the Masquerade into ermines is rather common. Oh, he says he's an "elf ermine," but Negi will believe anything. He also says something about "clearing his name" in one of the early chapters.
 * The punishments for what happened in the Chao arc only amounted to a handful of years in ermine form. Is Chamo capable of topping that?
 * It's stated that Negi's punishment was lighter than normal because of his age and because he wasn't intentionally breaking the masquerade, but merely failing to maintain it. If Chamo was an adult mage who deliberately broke the masquerade or attempted to conquer a country or something, he would probably get a much longer sentence. Furthermore, Chamo and Negi only met five years ago, so Chamo's sentence might only be 6 or 7 years long.
 * This could be related to whatever he's getting "Ermine dollars" from...
 * Or maybe he was punished for trying something else, like taking over the magic world... like Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Chamo is Negi
From the future, trying to ensure his survival, and either the survival of history, or to prevent some bad event. Chao wasn't the only time traveller.
 * Think about it, he showed up with nothing, as if the field generated by a living being were required for long time travel.
 * This means that Negi was fated to win that duel, because after he won he'd travel back in time to prepare himself to win.

Chamo is Gateau Kagura Vandenburg
While he seemed heavily injured in his final conversation with Takahata and Asuna, it wasn't shown that he died. That scene happened before Negi met Chamo, five years ago. Chamo exhibits at least one of Gateau's habits—smoking—and we haven't seen enough of Gateau to say for sure that he wasn't a Dirty Old Man.

Chamo is storing an enormous amount of magical energy siphoned from the Pactios for... something.
The artifacts created whenever Negi engages in a Pactio are literally Artifact-level items; stupidly large quantities of Mana must be required for these. Chamo has admitted he has an ulterior motive for creating as many pactios as possible—he gets something called "Ermine Dollars" for it from parties unknown. Clearly, the more Pactios Negi makes, the more someone benefits.
 * Perhaps he's an Incubator?

And finally....Chamo is actually Chao.
The whole perverted old man thing is simply a ruse to make people fall for it. This is also one of the few ways that Chamo switching places with himself during the festival arc would end with anything other than one of them being trapped in an infinite time loop.
 * Also, note that both names I listed, both of which are the names they're usually referred to as, are only a letter apart.

Chamo invented the kissing method of Pactio 280 years before the story.
The sharing blood method and other alternatives require extensive preparation and a public ceremony. However, his girlfriend/future partner was too shy. He teamed up with some ermines to create the kiss method: If he made it work, they would give him 50, 000 ermine dollars research money for each Pactio. His first Pactio was shy enough to become invisible, but then, when it worked, Chamo went on a drunken rampage to make a card for every female involved in magic, and got turned into an ermine. Then, due to time-freezing shenanigans, he only became active again when Negi came along, and retained the research money.

Chao isn't really from the future.
She merely planned and set up everything to look like she was correct, just to see Ala Alba and Cosmo Entelechia run around like idiots trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist.
 * Jossed.
 * Could also overlap with:

Chao is actually Poyo.
As many have noted, Chao's last bit of time travel to head back to her own time looks exactly like the gateport magic. It could happen.
 * Also Jossed.

Chao learned kung-fu from Old Master Ku Fei as a child
Chao practices a similar style of kung-fu as Ku Fei, and promised her that they would "spar again" before returning to the future. It is conceivable that Ku Fei would live for another century, as lifetime practitioners of martial arts do tend to have longer, healthier lifespans than most mundanes. Ku Fei is also referred to several times in the series as a Follower of the Way. One of the central beliefs of Taoism is that by pursuing Tao as a Sage one's lifespan can surpass such trivial things as time and death, thus powerful Tao sages may live for centuries.
 * Chao does not practice a similar style to Ku Fei; Ku Fei uses Hakkyokuken and Hakkeshou, while Chao uses Hokuryuu Shourinken, which have opposite styles to one another.

Chao is Negi and Ku Fei's descendant
How come this haven't been mentioned yet... Chao has similar features with Ku Fei and they get along well together probably due to Chao feeling some sort of bond with Ku Fei due to being her great grandaughter or something. Chao's personality as well seems like a mix between Negi's seriousness and Ku Fei's aloofness. Ku Fei mentioned as well that her clan demands that the first person who kisses her has to be her husband when she was avoiding Negi when he wanted to make a pactio with her and I recall somewhere that she mentioned her husband has to be stronger than her and since Negi has recently been officially stronger than her.... And Ku Fei ranked quite high in the "In love with Negi-sensei" chart Chamo used to whip out in earlier chapters.
 * OK, clarification on a detail. Ku Fei by her own choice falls somewhat under Best Her to Bed Her, though being able to out fight her isn't her only criteria. As Heir To The Warrior Clan, she feels it's necessary for her future husband to be an even mightier warrior. And the reason this guess probably hadn't been mentioned before, is that Chamo implied it during the episode where Ku Fei and Negi pactoed, so it's not so wild a guess.
 * Even if Chao is the descendent of Negi and Ku Fei it doesn't necessaries mean they get together. I choose to believe the initial theory is true but their kids or something hooked up to birth Chao

The Master of the Grave
Why else would CE be in the Gravekeeper's Palace in the first place, and the room where Fate was listed was at the Tomb of the first queen.
 * Alternatively, it's actually

Chao will be Back for the Dead
She'll show up to save the day, only for the Lifemaker (or whoever/whatever the Final Boss will be) to kill her.
 * Jossed, fortunatelly.

Chao is Negi's daughter by artificial insemination.
Someone decided to make a half-"10 000 Master" kid in case Lamarck Was Right. This theory is in effect whether  or not. (With how specific she was being, I would guess she's telling the truth about half, but the unrevealed other half would still fit the WMG)

Chao is Nagi's descendant by artificial insemination.
Negi's her great-great-whatever grand uncle.

Chao is not simply Negi's descendant, she is the descendant of every member of Negi's nakama or even all of the members of class 3-A (or at least the ones who can reproduce).
During Negi and Ku Fei's Pactio, part of the Ship Tease is that Chao looks more like Ku Fei than the rest of Negi's True Companions. But after hundreds or possibly thousands of years, it is possible (likely?) that the offspring of a close knit group like Negi's would eventually end up together. to pair up and have a child, that leaves only eight girls, which leaves 4 generations, easily done in 100 years.
 * Chao's not from that far in the future though, 100 years is 3-5 generations. Being a desendent of the 29 students that can get pregnant (Eva's 10, (though her ovaries should still be good, with enough Science! it might work.) and Chachamaru's a robot) would mean that she's 15 generations removed of Negi which is about 500–2500 years. And current events makes it seem implausable that the Magic World has 500 years left let alone 2500.
 * Except it's not 15 generations, best case scenario is a binary decontruction, so it is only six generations (30 kids in first generation if everyone can somehow reproduce, and if those children all pair off you get 30->15->8->4->2->Chao). If each generation is only sixteen years that's 96 years.
 * That logic requires that half of the 30 ancestors be male, which one of them is. So short of magical transformation allowing half of the class to be fathers, it can't happen in 6 generations (Though your implication of polygamy in the second generation is amusing (15/2=7R1 you have 8)). Also 16 years between generations? Unlikely, given Negi's... popularity with his students and many of his students would sixteen when he's twelve, sex is unlikely until he's 15, placing many of the mothers at 20-50 (Asuna's roughly 35-40 years old as of the current chapter which really drags out the out lieing, most of the class would be 20-21 with Asuna at ~45-50). 20 years between generations is far more likely, doubly so after Negi stops reproducing.
 * No, it requires that half of the girls in Negi class have at least one male offspring and the other half have at least one female offspring. Pair up and repeat for five more generations. And, of course, Negai has to be the father of one of the offspring. Note, we are trying to track down to Chao, so other descendents not in her ancestral tree are simply ignored.
 * If you take only the Ala Alba, exclude Chachamaru, and allow for Konoka and Setsuna

Chao did NOT return to the future -- she went to the Magic World and may run into (or save) Ala Alba at any moment.
First off, weren't both Casseopeias busted or nearly busted by the time the fight was over? She just seemed to pull that out of nowhere. Second, there was a gigantic Pillar of Light and several sets of instant magic circles when she activated it, something we'd never seen with Casseopeia before.

Third, compare the spell effects with those from Ala Alba's trip to the Magic World. They're identical.

It's a Xanatos Roulette...


 * Note that there have been subtle hints that the Magic World is on Mars...
 * It's true that the maps of the Magic World are basically Mars turned upside down, but that could just be Ken Akamatsu taking a shortcut to gen up a detailed map.
 * It's not. One character just recognized the world map as Mars and the narration and layout made a big deal out of it. How exactly this works out remains to be seen.
 * In chapter 287 is revealed that there is a gate between Mahora academy and old Ostia. the gate probably is in the same place where they go go back to the past beneath th world tree and the place where Chao supposedly goes back to the future has some pilar like the other gates.
 * Cassiopeia couldn't handle a jump of centuries, so Cho set up a delayed spell to return home with. It doubtless took her a long time to prepare, and had to be triggered during the World Tree high energy phase to work at all.

Chao will return, possibly in a Big Damn Heroes moment.
When she returned to the future, she found that the changes caused by her time-jump led to a far, far greater tragedy than the one she meant to prevent (possibly involving Negi's death and thus a potential existence failure for her, depending on how the Timey-Wimey Ball works in Negima). The only solution? Jump back again and save Great-Great-Granddad. Probably not until near the end of the series, though.
 * Well, now that it seems that Magicus Mundus, I'd probably guess sooner rather than later.

Negi is going to die "three chapters before the end of the series"

 * Which is the reason Chao went back in time in the first place. If he was an ermine for a couple of years, he would be behind in his training and wouldn't participate. But seeing how strong he was in the tournament, couldn't bring herself to fully go through with it if she lost to him, and set up the contingency plan.
 * If such was indeed Chao's motivation, it means little Negi will procreate before the series is over! Go for it, little dude!
 * Confirmed

Chao was never trying to end the Masquerade.
She was trying to train Negi. The disaster she was trying to avert was Negi losing a battle of some sort due to not being ready, surviving, and becoming a bitter old man. She was trying to lose: she provided him with the means to stop her, gave her trap a way out, went along with the cover story the mages came up with on the fly, surrendered out of the kindness of her heart, etc.
 * Even though Negi defeated her, the Forced Recognition Magic could still have been activated. Instead, she decided to wish for a day of world peace even though she could have successfully completed her plan. She didn't even though she could have; this shows that it wasn't her real plan.
 * If it was necessary for her to win, then she could have simply timetraveled back again and double-teamed Negi during the final battle or brought reinforcements or something. She didn't, which implies that her goal was different.
 * Second possibility: ending the masquerade was the fallback plan if Negi failed. The parent WMG was the main goal and hope for Chao.
 * Chapter 162 supports the whole "Chao's goal was different theory"; after Negi defeats her, she states that her wish had already been granted.
 * Another supporting statement from Chapter 199 has Chao laughing to herself about how the tournament she just finished running was "beneficial beyond expectations for Negi-sensei".
 * Jossed.

Chao altered the cycle of the World Tree.
This relates to the previous WMG. Konoemon mentions the twenty-two year cycle and then says that "what should happen next year is happening now"; she cannot provide any explanation for why this should be happening. Later, when Negi and the others are one week in the future, Chamo has Chisame bring up the data for years where the World Tree glowed brighter and longer; the lines for the abnormal years were labeled "1938", "1960", "1982", and "this year", which was 2003. Perhaps this "disaster" that Chao was trying to avert happens within the next year; Negi is supposed to be the one who stops it, and Chao couldn't afford to wait until the World Tree would normally glow brightest and had to use her magitechnology to make it happen one year earlier than normal.
 * Except that Chao said specifically that her plans were moved ahead a year because of the abnormal cycle. That doesn't mean she didn't do it by accident, of course.

Chao wanted to stop Fate's plan of seperating the old and new world
Eva mentioned way back during the Chao arc that Isolationism was beginning to rise in the New World, or the Magic World, and also mentions that there are people trying to sever all connections with the Old World. Now what does Fate do? He attacks and destroys the gateport, destroying the way to travel from Old to New world and back. Chao wanted to reveal magic, so that the Old World would learn about the New World, making seperation nearly impossible. This also gives a good excuse to bring Chao back, to help stop Fate from accomplishing his objective which was the complete opposite of her objective.
 * The obvious flaw in either this theory or her plan is that the Magic World's first reaction to Magic being revealed is to call every mage back and close all borders...
 * It couldn't be permanent though, what with sites like the Great Tree at Mahora existing in the "Old World". At best the recalling of the mages would be their punishment for failing to protect the masquarade, and a new group dispached to cover those sites.
 * Possible, but not sure. The "home country" is already highly isolationist, and in face of the unveiling, its leaders could consider earthly magic sites a liability rather than an asset... Even if it's temporary, reverting this decision could take more than two months, thus facilitating Fate's job instead of preventing it.

Chao was doing exactly what she said she was doing.
This had to be a WMG because of the other theories on this page.

It was established with the "Love Confession" storyline that it's wrong to control the minds of others. Yet the Mages have an extensive network throughout the world to do exactly that, forcing Muggles minds to conform to their way of thinking. Chao was fighting against that; in the future, the control Mages have over Muggles has absolutely corrupted them. The reason Chao stopped her spell was that Negi's resistance broke the momentum to break Mage control of Earth: a prolonged war with deaths on both sides would occur if she kept it up. "Having obtained her objective" means she hopes that having Negi consider whether it's right or wrong to enslave the minds of Muggles will change the future.
 * One major hole in this theory - the stuff keeping the mages hidden isn't mind-magic; it's the standard MIB stuff, memory erasure at most. Furthermore, Chao was the one doing mind-altering. Hers was a "forced recognition" spell, brainwashing people into believing in magic. There was even a metaphorical scene with her hypnotizing the Narutaki twins with a pocketwatch and "You will bellliieeeeeve", which is closer to "enslaving minds" than laws about hiding and a few good neuralizers.
 * The "forced recognition" spell isn't brainwashing; it adjusts people's suspension of disbelief. The metaphorical scene with the Narutaki twins said "You want to believe" and had the twins saying that magic might be real, not that it definitively was.
 * It's called "forced" recognition, not "encouraged" recognition. It alters perceptions, making magic more likely to their minds; that's a form of mind control. It comes a lot closer to "enslaving the Muggles' minds" than rules about secrecy and the occasional memory wipes, which mostly keep away from the sense of self and processes of thought.
 * You're forgetting the point of the tournament in the plan; by the time the spell came into effect, the videos from it would have spread all over the internet. The spell lowers the mind blockers, and a large number of people accept the events as the magic it is.
 * Negi states that there are spells on people to prevent them from noticing him flying in the air. Chachamaru comments that magic spells that mages are using on the Internet to cause skepticism. There are wards that enter a muggle's head and forces them to leave an area if a mage doesn't want them around. This isn't "natural" skepticism; mages have clearly broken their own taboo of no mind control for their own protection convenience. Are mages portrayed as any more ethical than normal human beings? No. That kind of power should not be given to anyone.

Chao Lingshen was trying to do EXACTLY what she said she was trying to do
However, the tragedy she was trying to prevent was one of the following.

A. Chao wanted to prevent Mars from becoming habitable in 100 years time, much less in the current time, leading to the conquered Mundus Magicas theory above, (or its reverse) B. Chao was trying to ensure that it wasn't UNTIL 100 years from now that it becomes habitable C. Chao was trying to make it become habitable now by ensuring Fate's sucess.

If C is correct, then her actual stated intention to reveal magic was real, she intended for Negi to be turned into an ermine, and thus he couldn't stop Fate.
 * The troper proposing this theory is merely stating C as a possibility, he does not believe it is true.

If either A or B are correct, then Chao's real plan to prevent that tragedy actually starts when she loses to Negi. The entire festival was one giant Batman Gambit or Xanatos Gambit by Chao to ensure that Negi and Co. (`and Co.` is extremely important here) learn some valuable lessons, get stronger, and give him the impetus to go to the magical world over the summer in the first place, also insuring he'll actually bring everyone along (and that certain people are likely to follow him to wales, having heard about his story.)

Part of this plan involves knowing that not only will Negi oppose her, but that he might need a little help. To those who have read the festival arc, hopefully everyone reading this page, had Negi not had the backup up 1/3 of his class plus Kotaro, he would not likely have stood any chance at all of defeating Chao. Yue in particular will be noted for convincing him to fight when everything else kept him doubting.

The Tournament is particularly important for the growth Negi experiences during it, and getting to meet his Father's image. In addition, the story of Negi's motivation, and his missing father, are revealed to, among others, his entire class. It is mostly thanks to this that Iincho understands and wants to assist Negi (also she follows him to wales, and doesn't follow to the magical world). It also leads 5 other girls from his class, none of whom knowingly have anything to do with magic, to follow him to the magical world.

Shortly, 3 of them are made slaves, this becomes the driving force, or 50% of it, behind Negi reaching the level of Monsters like Rakan, his Father, or Eva (although i don't think he quite equals Eva... of course, does anybody?)

No matter what Chao does in the present, her future won't change
When she goes back to her time, she will find out that nothing has changed. Chao probably created an alternative timeline deviating from her own timeline when she visited the present. Her timeline never had a Mahora Festival Arc and because of that Negi never realized that the Magic World was collapsing. She will have to go back again to the present to find a solution to her timeline's current situation.

Hakase will arrive in a spaceship to save everyone
The last we saw of her was at the end of the school fesitval, when Chao entrusted her with the "overtechnology from the future." Given all the stuff she's built so far, using scientific knowledge that Chao brought back from the future to build a spaceship capable of traveling to Mars and entering the magical world's dimension doesn't seem that improbable.

Negi in the future is the one who applied the magic markings onto Chao, imitating Magica Erebea
Because Chao couldn't use magic for whatever reason at the time but wanted power for reasons that are likely similar to why Negi sought Magica Erebea, future Negi applied the runes. Since without magic she wouldn't be able to use Magica Erebea proper, he imitated it as best he could. Negi has already shown he's capable of making high-level original spells fairly easily, so an imitation Magica Erebea wouldn't be beyond him with enough time. And Chao's runes and Magica Erebea work remarkably similar.
 * Alternatively, it's inherited and Negi devised & applied the seal to stop it from going out of control.
 * This... makes a lot of sense considering what's going on right now. And couple it with her reticence to explain exactly how she got those markings, her ambivalent attitude and surprise at how nice Negi is. What kind of reputation does this kid have in the future?
 * Or, she can use magic even without the markings, but the markings "speed up" Magica Erebea? The only indication we have that she isn't a mage is the Magic Association saying so, and 100 years is a decent amount of time to find a way to fool whatever test they use if you don't want to draw attention. But still, the markings... What kind of person does the Negi from her timeline become? Is Negi turning evil the disaster she went back to avert?

Fate's plan didn't happen at all in the original timeline.
He was either imprisoned in some way or unaware that the collapse was that close. Chao freed him/clued him in, and let him know the details of the future war, as part of her constellation of Xanatos Gambits.
 * Note that Poyo specifically states that she believes Fate's plan will prevent Chao's future if it succeeds - which necessarily means that something must be different than the original timeline. Poyo, at least, knows about Chao's future, and since Fate would win for certain if not for Ala Alba's intervention, she must believe that Fate's plan never happened. This implies that someone from the future (read: Chao) specifically altered things so that Fate could enact his plan in this timeline. Which means from Chao's perspective there were three possible outcomes:
 * 1: Chao wins in the Mahora festival arc, the world recognizes the existence of magic. The Mundus Magicus still collapses, but with Earth recognizing the existence of magic many of the residents are saved and the centuries-long war is prevented. Chao's future is averted.
 * 2: Chao loses at Mahora, but Fate's plan succeeds. The residents of the Mundus Magicus are saved, but trapped within Cosmo Entelecheia. Chao's future is averted.
 * 3: Chao loses at Mahora and Negi stops Fate. However, Negi, being the honorable hero and all, wouldn't stop Fate unless he found another way to save everyone - which means the Mundus Magicus is saved in its entirety. Best outcome, Chao's future is averted.
 * That last one is the one Chao has really been pushing for - giving Chachamaru her artifact, arranging a tournament to force Negi to get stronger, making sure he wouldn't be paralyzed by morally ambiguous choices, giving him just enough data to conclude the final secrets of the magical world, etc. But, and this is the important part, even if Negi fails, Chao still wins. In other words, everything in the manga from the Kyoto arc onwards has been going exactly according to plan.
 * The only problem here is that McGuinness mentions at one point that they have conclusively proven that Chao has no connection to Fate. Of course, that doesn't mean she's not wrong; Chao is more than smart enough to do it without being detected. In fact, recent evidence suggests may have been the ones who acted on her behalf.
 * Jossed.

The Pactio System will have been created by Chao.
Chachamaru's Artifact is one of Chao's inventions. Maybe they all are?
 * Wait, Chao is Negi's descendant, and Negi himself is descended from the creator of the Pactio system! This would make Chao the founder of her own family line!
 * She seems a little too smart to be lacking the delta brainwave.
 * Alternate explanation: The artifact is, and always was, part of Chachamaru. Chao included a "black box" designed to respond to pactio energy in an unusual way. Letting the plan hinge on Chachamaru's personality not having any unplanned major developments wouldn't be clever, after all.
 * Other alternate explanation: The pactio system itself wasn't invented by Chao, but the Artifact system was. That is, the basic system was invented by someone back in the mists of time, but some unknown mage showed up and added a bit to the design. Either that, or the Artifact system allows powerful mages to make their own contributions.

Chao is part vampire
We've just learned that Negi has become a vampire due to the effects of being revived by Magia Erebea. This provokes a question: can he still biologically reproduce? Let's assume the answer for now is "yes". Therefore, would his descendants be vampires? She might be a genius, but even so, her amount of expertise and knowledge is staggering for someone of the age of fourteen. So, what if she were part vampire and able to live long enough to acquire this expertise in her own timeline first while retaining her youth?
 * This would explain in part her magical powers. Let's make another assumption: she's a mundane, normally. If she is descended from Negi, she could have inherited Magia Erebea. However, since only one ancestor possesses it, it would be watered down some. So, it might need some kind of catalyst to activate it like a... ritual circle. Why not make it portable? Inscribe the ritual circle to invoke Magia Erebea as a full-body tattoo. Together, this all explains why she a) has no powers normally, and b) becomes deadly after activating the runes on her body.

The Lifemaker is a demon
We've recently learned that
 * Going the knowledge that overuse of dark magic is turning Negi into a demon I assume that it did the same to the Lifemaker over the centuries he used it, This explains how Fate plans to bring him back from the dead without introducing Necromancy into the mix.

Dynamis is a blood relative of either Mana or Cocone... or both
...Just a bit of a hunch, courtesy of frequenting the Animesuki forums.

The D in Takane D Goodman, stands for Dynamis. Dynamis' full name is "something" D Goodman too.
They both use shadow magic with a propensity to get naked. Takane's not brown cause she got her colouration from other family members.
 * That, or the D means she has the Will of D.

Godel is the life-maker's son
Compare the similarities between chapter 233, page 7 and chapter 264, page 16. Both Negi and Nagi had the exact same pose, right down to which arm is punching, which arm is clenched in a fist, which leg is straight out, and which leg is bent, and not to mention they both have the whole face cloaked in shadow thing. And both the Lifemaker and Godel is taking the hit in the same way. Thus since Negi is Nagi's son, thereore Godel must be the Lifemaker's son. Ignoring the whole war orphan thing. Because that's just what they want you to think.

Kurt Godel gave Tsukiyomi the Demon Sword Hina and additional training to assist Cosmo Entelachia
This theory ties into the guess that Tsukiyomi has had her personality altered by the sword. We know that she has it now, and that her mental state has devolved. We also know from the flashback that Setsuna saw the sword while she was training. A relic weapon like that would probably rarely be removed from wherever it is kept - since Setsuna was trained in the Old World, it is likely the sword is kept in the Old World. In order for her to have it, it had to have entered Mundus Magicus before the attacks on the gateports, so she probably got the sword in a period of time between that arc and the end of the Kyoto arc. Finally, Tsukiyomi knows at least a variant of the Ni no Tachi. If she was taught this formally, then she would have to have connections with the head family of the Shinmeiryuu style, and said connections would make it easy to acquire the sword. Currently, there has been nothing dropped (as far as I know) to suggest she is related to the head family. Godel, on the other hand, probably does have these connections - he says outright that only those who have direct lineage can know the technique. Given his hatred of the Megalomesembrian Senate, it's entirely possible that he hired Tsukiyomi, taught her the extra techniques, gave her Hina, and attached her to Cosmo Entelachia. Perhaps he suggested her to Fate or Chigusa or whoever in the Kyoto arc to begin with, perhaps he capitalized on their initial contact. He did this to improve Cosmo Entelachia's overall strength, making them more likely to win, but more importantly, making it more likely for the Senate to lose. At the time of executing this plan (after Kyoto arc, before the start of the Magical World arc) he would not have thought it possible for anyone else to be able to stop the Senate in all likelihood.

The theory does fall apart if you assume that either Godel or Tsukiyomi stole the knowledge. However, the only person able to duplicate the Ni no Tachi without being formally educated in the technique is Rakan, so it's probably beyond most people/everyone.

Negi has aspects of the Lifemaker.
Notice his Demon form resembling the Lifemaker in the Nagi flashbacks. Notice how Negi supposedly "creates a soul" for Chachamaru. That was him manipulating the Mundus Magicus.
 * This is related to his remarkable ability to create Uber-class powers through "Temporary" Pactios. Note below examples of Pactio powers resembling the Lifemaker's.
 * Chamo was actually hired to "drain" the Lifemaker abilities from Negi via Pactio; thus keeping the power seperate.
 * Notice how the non-Negi pactio that we've seen in action; the BFS that Setsuna has; requires Konoka to actively concentrate to send Mana to in order to activate. Negi doesn't even blink when someone activates his.
 * Kokone doesn't seem to have any issues when Misora uses hers.
 * There is a distinction between the ministra drawing power by activating the card, and the magister channeling extra power to the ministra. Recall that when Negi focused on Asuna during the budokai, she got an extra charge up. And Setsuna had already activated her card with Kanoka when she asked her to concentrate.

Negi will become the new Lifemaker
Mage of the Beginning isn't some evil sorcerer bent on world destruction. He always had good of Magic World in his heart but difference in perspective made him seem kinda alien. Moreover, Magical World needs Lifemaker in order to survive. Negi will come to this conclusion after he defeats him (Lifemaker on his part will get impressed enough by Negi to believe in humans power to control their destiny). Fearing MW total destruction Negi will decide to take inherit the title, powers as well as responsibilities that come with them. Using previously unheard of level of Dark Magic the two will conduct a transfer of Mo TB power into Negi who will probably o through some kind of transformation to adjust turning from human to immortal god-like creature. Using his new status Negi will save/rebuild MW, unite all the nations (who will defy someone who saved their whole world and is also pretty much god ?) and put Asuna on the throne as the Twilight Imperial Queen.
 * Do we really want people to make "Ore wa Kaminari" jokes?

The Lifemaker is inexorably linked to Mundus Magicus
As of 275, we can already see that the Lifemaker's spells and abilities can simply ignore anyone's attacks or defences in Mundus Magicus, provided they're native. How much of this is his own power and how much of it is the staff is up for debate, but it looks that he can rewrite any aspect of the world and declare it Canon, like a Killer Game Master.If this is true, then it means that he could probably take control of anyone who was originally from Mundus Magicus, and similarly these people would never be able to defeat him in a fight. Whether this would extend to, who has one parent from the old world and one parent not (I think?) is up for debate. It also means that the Lifemaker cannot die so long as the world exists, or that when he is killed once and for all, the world will be destroyed.

The Unnamed Mage is the Cosmo Entelechiea architect.
First off he seems to be doing the technical work for Fate (recall him disabling the Magical World gateport system) also Poyo-san artifact is limited version of CE. And she his "Old Friend". Coincidence? I think not. She's probably his ministra and her artifact is and early prototype of CE. Also note his reaction when Negi escapes from CE. He looks almost offended by that.

Fate is genderless
According to Latin grammar, a -um suffix indicates neuter/genderless, Fates name is not Tertius (m) or Tertia (f) but Tertium(n).
 * This was hinted at back in Yuna's focus chapter; the document on Fate that her father was reading stated that the gender was unknown.
 * Fate's physical body is likely male. Of the three new Averrunci recently introduced, one (Sextum) has a very obvious feminine shape with breasts and wide hips. All of the other 3 have male proportions. They may have genderless personalities, but their bodies are likely to be one or the other.

Fate did not actually edit the security footage
Instead, he's in cahoots with a Mirror Universe evil!Negi, who destroyed the gateport in his universe, and they traded the security tapes to frame both Negi and mirror!Fate.

Tsukuyomi has been steadily losing her sanity due to possessing the Demon Sword Hina.
It would explain how her personality underwent such a massive shift from a Tastes Like Diabetes Blood Knight who had a definite attraction and admiration for Setsuna to an Axe Crazy Psycho Lesbian between the Kyoto arc and her appearance in Mundus Magicus, and how she can manage to wield it seemingly without being possessed at this point.
 * The Curious Fan hereby predicts that this WMG will be the basis for Tsukuyomi turning good.

The Lifemaker never intended for Cosmo Entelachia to be a reality and was setting things up all along so Negi would use Magia Erebia to solve the world's problem.
Dynamis suggests that Magia Erebia is a power of the Lifemaker. If that is true then it means that either Eva is lying about being its creator (it is possible - though staggeringly unlikely - that she does not know she is lying), or that she is the Lifemaker (raised below). In any case, perhaps the Lifemaker first taught her, but she could never quite get a mastery of that power in the way needed to be able to stop the world from collapsing, so he embarked on setting up a ridiculous situation all revolving around manipulating circumstances so that there would be a person born - Negi - with the perfect temperament to be able to use Magia Erebia in a certain way. It's incredibly circuitous, and involves judicious use of the Omniscient Morality License. Still, the Lifemaker would have one of those. This could only possibly be true if one considers that Fate's plan is doomed to fail, for any reason.

The Code of the Lifemaker is incomplete
What every conspirator in the story wants (Cosmo Entelechia, Megalosombrian Senate, Kurt Godel, etc) is how to perfect the technique and achieve A God Am I. The remaining secrets probably lie somewhere on the Flying Continent as they have already scoured the crashing ones.

Sextum The Averruncus Of Water...
Will fall for Negi. Looking at the existing Foe Yay between Negi and Fate, the female version of him may just take it one step further. Plus, with Negi's luck with women, it wouldn't be surprising.
 * Hell, this is practically guaranteed. The real question is how she'll react when he inevitably strips her in combat, and if her reaction will be pleased or tsundere.
 * Since she is a female Fate, then it's possible that she might just be emotionless about it, or pissed.
 * Given Negi's history, I think "pissed" can safely be categorized as "Tsundere". There is no such thing as a female that isn't attracted to him, after all.
 * The stripping part has been confirmed, as for the tsundere part, take a look at the blush on Sextum's face.

The Gravekeeper is the Knight of the pactio pair to the Lifemaker's Magister.

 * Note the matching titles: The Gravekeeper is Master of the Crypts, signifying the end. The Lifemaker is the Mage of the Beginning, which should be self explanatory. Both are Negi's ancestors. The Gravekeeper is immortal just like the Lifemaker. The Gravekeeper has been assisting CE. The Gravekeeper simply vanished when she was supposed to be keeping an eye on Dynamis, and was never stated to be defeated and finally has not been mentioned since, setting up the future dramatic reveal.

Speculation about why MM was created and it's very nature and how it is tied into the LM
The inhabitants of the magical world were made from humans that were critical ill or dying and the LM made MM to give them a chance at another life. Albeit one dependent on magic, but at least they could live. He traveled around saving people and populating his world. He asked before he sent, and they had other volunteers. The reason for all the different types is that to cure what ever ailed them he got creative, and plus he always had a bit of making crazy stuff for fun in him.

The Lifemaker didn't just make the magical world he IS the magical world. When he was creating the system that is the magical world he discovered that it was not quite about to handle itself. It was not a self regulating system ie to much mana over here to little over there ect ect.

The spells he created to regulate the system were just not good enough. It had to have much more intelligence behind the system to pull it off it needed true sentience to run it. In the end the only person that the LM could or would trust to regulate the system was himself. He used his own soul and mind to become the central AI for the system in the process making himself immortal and completely unkillable so long as MM existed.

The spell(s) he used more or less made two separate parts of himself, one that was still independent and could go anywhere what we know as the Lifemaker, and the other that was MM and was incapable of thoughts outside of maintaining it. The independent part created Asuna and her Anti-Magic as a delete function in his system to destroy errors in his code because he knew that even he was not perfect. So the Code of the Lifemaker abilities is literally him just forgetting that part of the system no longer exists. The reason why the spell to destroy the Magical World even exists was the shut down command in case his integration with the world was a failure.

Now fast forward a few millennia and the LM is weary of life and sees that he is dying. MM is slowly losing it's magic. Nothing lasts forever not even him. So he decides he will shut down his system let himself die and send everyone into his "paradise" which while I'm not sure how that works yet so let's say it's natural and self sustaining.

Part of the reason I think this may be true is that each generation of his constructs seems weaker. Nagi mentions it to one of them at one point and the three that are summoned during Negi's attack are just pathetic. Fate and Negi both one shot them. The LM is literally on his last legs by the point. Still overwhelmingly powerful compared to normal people, but not as much as he should be as a living god.

That's also why Red Wing couldn't kill him. Their objectives of save MM and destroy LM are mutually exclusive.

The last hurdle in Negi's plan will be purging the LM from the system and setting up something new in its place. I'm betting some sorta science magic hybrid.

Nothing involving the Lifemaker or Nagi will be resolved
Negima is ending in three chapters, or so said the most recent. I don't think that's enough time to resolve anything.

Eastern Mages are native to Earth or a different spiritual dimension than the Magical World.
All the demons in the Magic World are Big Red Devil variants; and we haven't seen anyone emphasize the Onmyodo introduced in the Kyoto Arc. Also, nobody freaks at Setsuna's white wings; not even Western Demons. It's a cultural thing they don't care about.

The entire Mundus Magicus is an artificial program
The natives are "real" in the sense that the holograms are real. The Code of the Lifemaker is the equivalent of the source code. Fate and his group gained access to cheat software or hacks that allows them to rewrite the codes of everything concerning Mundus Magicus. Negi and the others from Earth can't be killed in the same way since they're not native to it, but just visitors.
 * Mundus Magicus could also be considered as a giant magical construct Sim world. And the creatures are shikigami.

Magic World is just like one giant computer about to break down, only more Earthshattering Kaboom.
Alternate Mars: one giant computer Mars just by itself: just the case of the computer The small fry Keys of the Lifemaker: USB Flash Drive (can vary from 2 GB to 32 GB which is sold for $9.88 to $69.00 and that's with no tax btw) Grand Master Key: External Hard Drive; 320 GB costs $79 or the 2 TB which costs I believe like $150 or something (must be salesperson in me.. D: )

now, let's just say the computer (alternate Mars) was already breaking down on you and that you wanna change parts already due to the fact that you need to upgrade the computer. One problem: you need to back up the data files (aka the people of Magic World) and transfer it to another computer. Let's say that the Code of the Lifemaker (Grand Master Key) is the one that backs up all of the registry files, the most important files running and the rest of the Keys are USB hubs where you transfer the files. The Operating System of the Magic World that we know (let's say it was Vista cause Vista sucked IMO) and that the Lifemaker (who may or may not be the owner of the computer aka the one great rulder) wanted it to change to Windows 7 (aka Kosmo itself where Fate and Rakan were having tea.)

He wouldn't need to upgrade the OS but there was a problem: the minor border conflict. Let's say that border conflict was the data files stealing RAM (aka stealing more stuff than what they would really need) so he launches a game (the war twenty years ago) so that the RAM gets distributed evenly. The protagonists get to be Nagi and Ala Rubra while Fate and his merry men were the villains and the Man Behind the Man was Lifemaker him/herself (we don't even know the gender of that person so let's just call him/her gender neutral). Anyways, he disappears into the shadows and created another back up person for the fruition of that person's plans (Fate III aka Tertium who developed a conscience by himself). 20 years later, Tertium aka the Fate we know reenacts the plans given to him by his master Lifemaker.

Now, unless Negi knows what he can do about the situation, there's really not much hope for Magic World. Unless, Chisame (who's the computer tech savvy of the group) figures out the problem and solves it converting computer terminology and shizz to Magic World stuff.

tl;dr: anyone knows what computers are will probably laugh at this theory.. of course, if you put in the fact that KA did AI Love You, he may probably be sending a message here about computers... and maybe.. just maybe.. he's teaching us how to repair computers on our own...

wait... OH SHI-!!! HE'S A GENIUS!!!! Disguising a manga into an instruction manual on how to fix your computers by your own self!!! FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!! (this troper may have gotten the terms wrong so if you guys want to, you can edit it and put in the correct stuff please. Thanks.)


 * Maybe Negi would just overclock the PC and add water cooling? It is pretty easy but it is gonna take time. And that might be the point of his 'Plan B'.

The power source of Mundus Magicus is Mahora's World Tree
We know from Eva's curse that electricity can be used to either power magic spells or can be converted into magic. Since sunlight can be converted into electricity, it's shouldn't be impossible for sunlight to be converted directly into magic. The world tree gathers a huge amount of magic then releases it every 22 years, the tree glowing and increase of magical energy around it is a side effect of it transmitting the energy to sustain Mundus Magicus.
 * If this is true, it implies the Lifemakers plan is it can only be carried out for a short period of time after the tree transmits power. The war Ala Ruba participated in happened about 20 years before the start of the series, and the tree last glowed about 21 years ago according to the Festival arc.

The Magic World on Mars isn't the only one.
During the Festival Chao mentions a world of magic with numerous countries that's "slightly out of phase with our world" which seems like a decent description of Mundus Magicus... except Mars isn't our world and I wouldn't describe the amount of countries there as 'numerous'. If there is a out of phase world on Mars why can't one exist on another planet, like venus, or earth?
 * Only "our world" is not only "= Earth" but it could be "= our universe as whole" in which case it still exactly right description.
 * Yeah, except she said "our." Referring to herself. And she's not from earth.

Negi will save the Magic World by swapping it with the real Mars before the pocked dimension is destroyed
Then he will be on the run to avoid ermination :-p
 * More precisions: In order to fool the enemy he will create an incredibly convoluted, 3-hour plan, whose first half-hour would involve the gate. None of the girls will be informed of the plan as a whole, to hide the fact that Then he would start it earlier than planned. When Fate's countermeasures will thwart Negi's plan, Negi will smugly inform him that.

Negi will swap Mundus Magicus with the real Mars.
Leaving the lifeless rock to be destroyed in the pocket dimension. Which will still break the masquerade, as hey, wasn't that planet red a few minutes ago?
 * Already said: see "Negi will save the Magic World by swapping it with the real Mars before the pocket dimension is destroyed".
 * It would actually take a good deal of time for earth-bound scientists to notice the spontaneous change in light from Mars, however due to the various Mars Rovers on the surface, the sudden lack of signal will be infinitely more noticable.
 * There are also three still-operational orbiters (ESA's Mars Express, NASA's Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) around Mars, so it won't just be the loss of signal from the rovers that clues in terrestial scientists. Optical telescopy will hardly be necessary.
 * True, but that signal still only travels at the speed of light, and the lack of signal from the few still working rovers will prove that it's not something immediately explainable (Sudden Terrestrial Atmospheric Reorginzation {Heh STAR} or some other scienciey name) and make them look much closer, to see the cities, and the people and the flying whales.
 * The first thing the people monitoring the orbiter's transmissions will notice are the oceans, then the forests. It would be a while before they spot and recognize the cities as cities. The end of the rover's signals, the signals from the orbiters showing the change, and the optical change will all travel at the speed of light. Depending on where Earth and Mars are in relation to each other, the distance in light-minutes could be from under four to over twelve. It will take longer than that for all the various monitoring teams to get around to comparing notes with each other.
 * I'm pretty sure anyone who looked at Mars with a powerful telescope would notice those changes pretty darn quick. It's not like Mars is so far away most people can't see it. Plenty of people have telescopes more than powerful enough to show a sudden switch from dead dry red Mars to a vibrant and life filled mars that, by necessity, would be greenish and blue. It's not like the magical world's trees are all red or something.

Mahora was the Lifemakers Old World Base of Operations
If memory serves right, it was stated what Mahora was founded by mages. Its purpose was two fold:
 * 1) To serve as a gathering ground for mages who wanted to leave
 * 2) To contain the devices necessary to create the Magical World, in other words the ruins below the school. The gathering device from which Ala Alba made the time jump during the festival was the central piece of Original!Mahora. That would make Ostia the original Gateport and centerpoint of the magical world.

The setup of the Magical World is basically the following: The World tree serves as a power regulator. It continuously sends energy to the Magical World, and can receive excessive amounts of Energy from the Magical World (The later happens right now ~Ch 320). The whole cycle was set up to boost the energy levels every 22 years to maintain a sufficient level of magic. What screwed up the whole setup was the creation of additional gateports. Imagine a bucket with a small hole in it. You occasionally pour water into to keep it from running dry. That is the original Setup. The additional gateports are additional holes, but you didn't adjust the puring cycle/pouring amount. Magic runs out and with that you have the requirement for drastic means.

Asuna does love Negi, but the feelings aren't returned.
In the first chapter Negi did some spontaneous fortune telling for Asuna, the result was him telling her that "Your love will be unrequited." Since then it's been implied that her then current crush (Takamichi) may in fact return her feelings but didn't feel himself worthy. If the fortune wasn't referring to the present it must refer to the future, and since then Asuna has shown possible signs of affection towards Negi.

Albireo did not kiss Nagi.
Chamo says there are other ways to do it when he tells Negi about pactio. Presumably, there's a way for people who aren't romantically involved to do it.
 * In the official translation, Chamo speaks of mixing blood as being "too bothersome". Kissing is a gesture of commitment; mixing blood should be at least as effective.
 * How well would a spit-palm handshake work? It should rank slightly higher than a kiss; they both mix the same bodily fluid, and a handshake is commonly used to seal working agreements, among other things. A blood brothers ritual should result in something higher than the handshake, given The Power of Blood.
 * Then again, the kiss could be seen as a romantic gesture of commitment, which would seem more relevant to the pactios, given the romantic subtext...
 * To form a Permanent Pactio, the mage and the partner must trade internal organs, or some other body part. As theorized below, the permanent pactio requires a stronger level of commitment, and this would be the equivalent in a "blood brothers" style pactio. It sounds bad, but keep in mind that White Magic makes stuff like reattaching severed arms fairly easy. It wouldn't be a big hassle for two guys to each cut their fingers off and switch them around.

But on the other side of that statement...

The rest of the bases are also ways to make a pactio.
Including home base, if you know what I mean. Same statement by Chamo as the source of this. This may be what he meant when he said kissing "is the easiest way to complete a contract" and the other ways were "too bothersome".

Poyo has a pactio with Nagi

 * Just to add to the whole "WTF is going on" to her sudden appearance.

Negi asked Chamo to make the love chart.
Negi has to pick someone at the and of all of this. What better way to make sure who the best honest candidates are?
 * This could also overlap with:

Negi's only pretending to not notice the harem he's built without people telling him.
It's pretty hard to believe that a 10-year-old kid would seriously miss that, especially in this day and age.

A preference for older women is a common trait of Springfield men
Every single one of Negi's potential love interests is older than he is, and the ones that have the best chance are all 3–4 years older than him. As for Nagi, Arika just looks like she's older than he is. Nagi is a teenager, but she looks to be at least 20 or so. Not to mention the fact that, so who knows how old she really is.

Negi's destined partner is Chisame

 * ... Asuna and Chisame are based off of the two separate parts of Naru's persona, and the Asuna side won once already.
 * Alternatively, neither will win and it will be someone completely different.

Negi will end up batting for the other team
Overexposure to the opposite sex from a really young age. The the opposite sex just becomes...WorthlessYellowRocks. He's too young to be showing a lack of reaction, yet.
 * Which might make Fate possibly homosexual. Must remember to investigate.
 * So Chao comes from artificial insemination, then?
 * Yes. Konoka wanted a kid.

Nodoka is bi.

 * She's just never going to live down the saishoudoukin incident, is she? Naturally, Haruna will push this, for the entertainment value if nothing else.
 * Or Yue attracts other girls. I mean, her relationship with the Class Representative could be considered Foe Yay, and just look at.

At some point, further along in the manga, Chisame will give Negi a serious, non-Pactio, romantic kiss

 * Exactly what it says. Soon, if not immediately, after this, Negi will somehow learn the definition of Tsundere and thus be told - or figure out - that Chisame is developing, or has developed, feelings for him that she's trying and failing to hold back, and Negi will not only know that another girl is possibly after him (he already knows about Nodoka, ), but he will likely then ask who else amongst the girls he knows has feelings for him... and he will be utterly flummoxed upon learning just how many girls he has trying to "win" him.

Haruna got the money for the airship from running a fantasy brothel
We're never told how she amassed all that money. Perhaps she did it by using her artifact to cater to people's,er,tastes: Haruna: Okay. Pay first,please. Do you have a picture? {lightning sketch} En~joy! '' hnng. RakanisNEVERtheUketype... '' Joe? Drool cleanup in tent one!
 * Customer: I want to watch Nagi and Rakan getting it on - Nagi topping.

Haruna will eventually draw an Ero Konoka
She already attempted this with Nodoka (and failed due to a last second Book Throwing), and the comedic potential is far too good to pass up.

Haruna will eventually draw an Ero Setsuna
Sick of the Cannot Spit It Out between Konoka and Setsuna Haruna takes matters into her own hands...

Haruna will eventually draw an Ero Haruna

 * Either this will be the equivalent of dividing by zero, or she will not be seen outside her room for a month.

When everything settles down, Haruna is going to add herself to the harem
She wants to take over the magical world. Negi is heir to a not-insignificant chunk of it. So, in the end, assuming that Negi takes the throne, the most obvious route to power for her...

3-A is a collection of the various Anthropomorphic Personifications of Fanservice
Because it makes too much sense. Each one represents a different fetish called into being by the intense desires of otaku. Much like Discworld gods,their belief makes them real; the more belief they have,the more personal power they have and the more of a personality they gain. Also like Discworld,some cover more than one base, gaining more power.
 * Taste the Rainbow

Anya is a lesbian trying to make Negi her beard
She's clingy and possessive towards Negi to the point of absurdity, suggesting that she's not interested in Negi as much as claiming him.
 * When she's first introduced to Asuna, the first thing she does is oggle her T&A.
 * She does the same to pretty much all of Negi's students when she meets them in the hot springs. When she meets the ... largest members of the class, she's visibly drooling.

Kotarou will form pactios with Chizuru and Ayaka
He's said he considers them family, after all. Chizuru's scary when she wants to be, and the class rep used to be able to hold her own against Asuna, so both of them could make good fighter-types. Since they're both Muggles, they could easily find themselves in a "make a pactio or die situation", so Kotarou will actually be willing to do it. Plus, if Ayaka gets a crush on Kotarou hilarity will most definately ensue.
 * Makes sense to me. It would be funny seeing Ayaka worrying who to choose. I'm guessing that Ayaka's card would have something to do with Flowers going off some other pactio cards that Akamatsu drawn. Don't know about Chizuru, something to with scaring everyone half to death maybe?
 * Spring onions. I don't know how, but it will involve spring onions.

Akamatsu is setting up a mini-harem for Kotaro.
Feeling that not even Negi would be unable to handle thirty lovely harem-ites, Akamatsu is slowly setting Kotaro up with a five or six person harem of his own. His harem will include: And with possible cross-overs with Negi's harem, including:
 * Natsumi (Naturally.)
 * Chizuru (Also naturally.)
 * Madoka (Briefly hinted to be interested in aged-up Kotaro during the Festival Arc.)
 * Kaede (With whom he may or may not form another pactio.)
 * Ayaka (Tsundere type, obviously. Ayaka's conflicted feeling over whether she loves Negi or Kotaro more would be comedic gold.)
 * Yue (More of a stretch, but also a possibility; they do have something of a rivalry.)
 * This Troper doubt the last three (probably because he want to see them with Negi), but add Mei Sakura as a higly possible one.
 * A new pactio for Kaede is unlikely, as she hasn't gone through the amount of character development that justified Setsuna's new artifact.

Akamatsu's true purpose with special trainings...
The point of training Negi in time chambers is, at first sight, a plot point to hasten his power-ups. But the true purpose of Ken Akamatsu is to make Negi age faster, therefore taking the shotacon elements away and making everything legal and normal without asspulling and surprising everyone. He is good; he is very good.
 * By now, Negi's got to be at least eleven, maybe approaching twelve? It's reflected in the art, too (look at his hair and general build).
 * Okay, he added a quite a few months in basic combat training with Eva by adding an extra day (possibly more), plus around 8 months or so in preparation for traveling to the Magic World. He most recently added another month while training to fight Rakan. He's aged himself at least a year, minimum, just with the training in the resorts. If you add in the normal time spent outside of the resorts...He's definitely at least eleven biologically, and well on his way to being twelve. Not counting festival days, repeated God knows how many times over...
 * Also note that Negi has been spending more and more time in his aged-up form as the story goes on.
 * This wouldn't be without precedent, either; it's implied that Takamichi looks older than he is because he did the same thing Negi is doing now.
 * Genius! It won't be long before the Toy Shipping becomes real Shipping..
 * Mana Tatsumiya also looks older than her age. And she was involved with magic as well when she was much younger

The girls will get a nice little show...
Something will happen at some point in the manga's future - being pantsed, getting hit by Flans Exarmatio, being walked in on while changing - that will result in several of the girls at once seeing Negi's... yeah. It will be a lighthearted moment, perhaps in a chapter in-between two serious chapters. We won't get to see it (okay, perhaps from behind), but we WILL see the girls' reactions and then poor Negi freaking out and trying to cover himself. Akamatsu-san HAS to have a few more good ecchi comedy scenes left in him for this manga.
 * Well, it has already happened several times in the baths (the most recent I can think of is the "mute" chapter in vol. 18), so it can happen again...
 * Maybe he'll have... "grown"/"matured"... since the last time, and one of the girls will comment on it. ("Wow... Negi-kun's... gifted for a 10-year-old...")
 * The girls haven't seen him naked in his aged up form yet...
 * Except for Ako, yes. Lots of potential here... And as for his "normal" form, anybody remember the bottom panels of chapter 137, page 8?
 * That is the perfect setup for when he finally returns to the Old World, and Eva tries to seduce him again. Cue amazement concerning his "growth" while he was gone.

To form a permanent Pactio, the Magister and Ministra must "hit a home run".
This would explain why Negi is too young to form a permanent Pactio.
 * Pactio seems to work based on sharing bodily fluids. The reason a kiss on the cheek is less effective than a full "love-love kiss" is not that it's less significant, but that the fluids are not shared. The mixing of blood is noted as another possibility. Taking this method to its logical conclusion would presumably produce a more powerful effect.
 * There's also the fact that when  make their pactio, upon seeing the length and intensity of the kiss, he makes the comment "Maybe you should go for the full contract", implying that if they kept it up, they would have created a permanent pactio.
 * Yet if the home-run theory is true, this brings up another question: How is achieving a full pactio different

Amagasaki Chigusa is actually a very Wholesome Crossdresser
Chigusa is the only woman who has been 100% immune to Negi's natural charm, never so much as blushing around him. The obvious conclusion is that Chigusa is therefore NOT a woman.
 * Nonsense. In what way was Chigusa wholesome? She's pretty clearly a minor villain introduced before the concepts of moral ambiguity were introduced and explored.

Negi will soon hit puberty. Hilarity WILL ensue.
As noted in several other places on this page, Negi is at LEAST 11 years old due to all of the training in time. It's only a matter of time before his body goes through that "special" time, around a bunch of teen girls, most of whom have some level of romantic feelings for him...
 * Well, Negi definitely is going to hit puberty; and considering that recent events imply a timeskip, it's very likely we'll see it.

Possible Artifacts for some of the remaining students...

 * Akira- Something that lets her manipulate water (given her being a really good swimmer.)
 * A trident that causes earthquakes. Given how much Akamutsu does the research, it's not impossible that he'd reference the signature item of a god from Classical Mythology.
 * Well we were sort of right, it's actually a swim suit that lets her travel between different bodies of water without expending any magical energy.
 * Ayaka- A horse riding crop that motivates people (given her being in the Equestrian club and her spot as class rep.)
 * The title on her pre-series pactio card is "The Aristocrat of Flowers", and the joke pactio says her special ability is producing flowers from behind her back. Green Thumb, maybe?
 * Chapter 340 translation says that her artifact lets her meet with people without an appointment. Somehow.
 * Misa- A karaoke microphone that forces people to dance (also fits with her being a cheerleader.)
 * Chizuru- A leek or a telescope that can see people she knows anywhere they are (similar to Asakura's only you don't have to find them to see them and it can only lock onto one, plus she hates long distance relationships
 * Chapter 340 spoiler shows her card with a leek on it. It also has her asking for another pactio from Kotaro, so something astrological is still possible.
 * The way the leek works is that it will cure any ailment of the person she uses it on. Also that person has to do whatever she says.
 * Madoka- Some sort of jewelry
 * Her pactio clothes will be boyish, just because it would annoy her.
 * But people have complete control of what their pactio clothes look like. Actually, now that I think about it, it'd probably be something like a ring that changes the gender of anyone she punches. It fits with pissing her off with the boyish traits, her love of jewelry, and adds another fetish to the growing list.
 * Satsuki- Probably something cooking related.
 * Something koala-themed and absurdly powerful.
 * Sayo- Some sort of pen or pencil (ghost writing!) That whole pencil twirling thing seems a little suspicious.
 * A gatling gun, maybe?
 * Fuka and Fumika - Fuka gets something that causes chaos, Fumika something that fixes it.
 * One of them gets body splitting powers or Smoke Out bombs, and the other one gets the ever-popular Ninja Log trick.
 * Sakurako - The info page suggests that it's a megaphone that boosts other people's luck.
 * Hakase - Technopath powers.
 * Some kind of support artifact similar to Ako's, that affects Chachamaru (and possibly other constructs, like Chisame's mice, Chachazero, and maybe even Haruna's golems).

Nah, those are boring. It's like saying that Ako's artifact should be a foot-ball, or Yuna's a basket-ball. And that's what happened in the anime(s) - lame and half-assed stuff galore. Artifacts have to be more creative!
 * The animes gave Ako a giant syringe as an artifact, not a football.

Volume 0 may-or-may not turn out to be canon pactios here and translation here.

Negi plans on marrying/romancing Asuna...
...but not for at least a century. After all, they're both functionally immortal (barring accidents), so they can afford to wait. He's waiting because he realizes that, no matter who he chooses, as long as the rest of the former harem is still alive, there will be feelings of resentment. So, he's waiting for them all to die of old age before he does anything, to protect their feelings.

The one Negi likes the most is...
...Eva. When Asuna asks if they even could hook up and says that "you are both the same kind of people", she means it literally in that both Negi and the person he likes are immortals. Asuna's being surprised at first, but then deciding that it makes sense, suggests that it's someone that is a lot like Negi—and as has been emphasized before, Negi's now more like Evangeline than he is like a normal human, mage or otherwise.
 * The epilogue is also quite dodgy regarding Eva's fate, and it does mention that despite winning her freedom, she continues to watch over Negi's fate.

Konoka Settled for Gay for Setsuna, but to her its Worth It.
She would have been fine with being Platonic Life Partners with Setsuna; Setsuna is her Most Important Person and Childhood Friend. But she just couldn't get past the shell of self-control/self-hatred that Setsuna put up in defense and just their friendship wasn't enough. Even Negi wasn't enough. But when Konoka examined the cracks in Setsuna's armor; she realized it was physical attraction. Perfect. If that was all it requires to keep her Secchan, it's easily given and not unpleasant.

Eva still has some level of control of Makie, Yuuni, Akira, and Ako
And she's using them to keep tabs on Negi in the magic world. Out of the five Muggles who followed Negi into Mundus Magicus, four of them are the four girls that Eva vampirized and mind controlled. Negi says that he was going cure them, but we never actually see him doing so. Even if he did, Eva is powerful enough that she could retain some control over them.
 * Evidence: when Negi was looking for training after the Kyoto trip, Makie accidentally refers to Eva as "master". She then goes on to wonder (mentally) why she did that.
 * Evidence against: A little while after Makie makes accidentally calls Eva "master", she defends and talks back to Eva when Eva is making fun of Negi's kung fu training, causing Eva to wonder if Makie had any lingering memories of when she was Eva's servant.
 * Eva was wondering if Makie had any residual memories, not if she could still piggyback off of Makie's senses. All that the "master" proves is that a tiny bit of power remains, and seeing through someone's eyes passively should take much, much less energy, effort, and influence than active control. Eva may have just been wondering if either more power was left over than she thought, or if memories remained past a wipe (which could prove problematic).
 * For the sake of argument, she could have followed that line of thought into partial control. 'Oh, there are still some tiny tiny effects on her from when I bit her. How about (for example) I suck Negi's blood and get a bit of magic energy from it and channel that into Makie, upping control until eventually I can turn her into my puppet? Then I can use her to stalk Nagi/Negi for me as my unwitting pawn. For evil, evil things.'
 * She tried to suck his blood early on in the series, unsuccessfully.

The plan of the senate is to secure complete governance of Mundus Magicus, or some portion within,
So we found out in Ch. 265  What would this achieve? It could show that  were all crazy or a threat to the common person, much like what , though whether that last one worked completely is debateable. Right now, this is not the ideal situation for the Senate though - what would have been ideal is if  Either way,
 * It is also possible that Fate is helping in this plan. If this is the case, then he is pretty much doing what happened in the last war, except that he has no intention of succeeding. This time,  He did mention that he believed in what he was doing, and establishing a new world order may be his real goal.
 * Godel named Fate as one his group's enemies and Nodoka confirmed it was true with her artifact.

Ricardo is a demon.
Several reasons.
 * The hair: Even by the standards of the manga, that 5-pronged hair is just weird. However, we have seen hair somewhat similar to it before... On Wilhelm.
 * Megalomesembrian Senate: He's a senator from the government that, if Kurt Godel is telling the truth, attacked Negi's hometown. He's already shown to have been a senator in the flashbacks to Nagi's adventures, meaning he must have taken part in the vote for whether the town should be attacked or not, and may actually have taken part in the attack itself. Sure, we don't know which side he took on the matter (if there were any sides to be taken, that is), but then again...
 * Chapter 267: Specifically, page 6, in the third and fourth panels. Is that the face of a man you can trust?
 * Unlikely. Chapter 269 makes it clear that Ala Rubra knew that the Megalomesambria senate of the time were a bunch of total douchebags out to get Akira. If Ricardo was a member, I doubt Jack would have been so kosher with him when he shows up in chapter 236 or when he goes off to train Negi. Given how Jack was supposedly working with Donette from the beginning, I sort of doubt that the Megalomesambria of today is the Megalomesambria that executed Akira. Governments change, and 18 years can be a long time in politics. For all of Jack's supposed idiocy and laziness, I think the man has top-notch instincts for trouble and enemies.

At the rate the Masquerade is being shredded, pretty soon there's going to be only one guy who has no idea magic is real
Hell, at the rate the Masquerade is falling apart, they may just make a reality TV show out of his life, to keep in touch of the idea of what being a Muggle is like.

Nagi is overpowered because he's CHEATING
The little book he always reads contains the cheat codes. That's how he was able to beat the Hopeless Boss Fight.
 * Rakan is overpowered through judicious use of Level Grinding.
 * Alternately, Rakan used a bug in the "code" to break the universe. He is explicitly referred to as "broken" after all.
 * Negi is using a combo of level grinding and manipulating the system (without actually breaking anything) to make himself a Disc One Nuke.
 * Kotaro just level grinds.

The Megalomesembrian Senate release Sukuna (the demon god from Kyoto) to attempt to kill Arika
According the timeline, Eishun and the other members of Ala Rubra sealed it shortly after Arika was supposedly executed. What probably happened is this: Nagi saved Arika from her execution and they escaped to our world, and settled in Kyoto. The Senate found out about this and released Sukuna in an attempt to kill her. We know that Nagi lived in Kyoto at some point, so it makes some sense.
 * We could also throw in a side theory that Sukuna is what killed Gatou.

Chachazero actually contains a fragment or copy of Eva's Soul.
Specifically the most bloodthirsty, overtly evil part. It would explain why Eva is such a Noble Demon and Anti-Villain, but still believes herself to be iredeemable; at one point, she really was that evil, but when she created a partner for herself, she confined that part of her personality to Chachazero. She views herself as evil because she really did commit evil, Ax Crazy acts in the past. Alternately, Eva didn't split her soul, but copied a part of it.
 * Chachamaru was either created by different means, or she's Eva's nice side. It would explain why.
 * Perhaps souls work like they do in Xanth, namely, that a partial one can grown into a whole one over time.

Chachamaru originally had no soul
But Negi didn't believe that and used his Magica Erebea to create her soul completely on accident while threatening who or whatever controlled the pactio system. Unfortunately this means that Chachamaru was effectivally kissing her father.
 * Or perhaps it's a more complex cultural Take That. Consider that Negi originally mentioned how some Japanese beliefs states that all things have souls. (Slightly odd, as he's Welsh, but whatever). When Chachamaru disregards that instantly; going the Western route of looking at it; he goes along with it and just muscles the magic system into accepting her. He already thought of her as a person, he just wanted the magic to work so she wouldn't be upset. She is, essentially, complex Shikigami.
 * I took it like this: the basic idea is that if you believe you have a soul, you have a soul. Chachamaru doubted that she did, so at that point she didn't have a soul, which is why the pactio stalled at the beginning. However, since the pactio is a 2-person thing, and Negi obviously believes she has a soul, his force of belief was enough to make the pactio go through/give her a soul. Since she now has tangible evidence of a soul (the pactio card), she believes that she does, in fact, have a soul, so now she does.
 * That makes it even more heartwarming.

The gazebo Rakan and Fate are having their tea party in is alive
And Fate warped Rakan into joining the tea party to keep him from angering it, as even Fate fears the mighty gazebo.
 * More than that. The Gazebo is the real big bad. Looks like we're heading for a downer ending.
 * After it takes control of the Negima universe, it will move on to its true goal: defeating Aizen's Couch.

Negi's getting Saishoudoukin no matter who he ends up with.
Chachamaru's the third party. Her Pactio ruined her for anyone else, and Negi's too kind to demand she go away.
 * How did her Pactio ruin her for anyone else? Can you explain that a little more?
 * After all that, would you be able and/or willing to go to anybody else for your charging needs?
 * Yes! Negi, while enthustiastic, goes overkill on everything. I'd prefer to go back to the Noble Demon master or one of other students.
 * Dude, charging by Eva=daily maintenance. Charging by Negi=sex. Not a very hard decision to make for most people.
 * Except the pleasure part is so intense it becomes pain. So you're right it's not a very hard decision to make.
 * That... wasn't exactly pain.

Haruna Saotome is a genderswapped Ken Akamatsu.
Glasses, drawing ability, perversion, financial success - it all fits. Plus: When Haruna draws something, it comes to life in the Negiverse. When Ken Akamatsu draws something, it comes to life in the Negiverse.

Zect was either the scariest or the most awesome teacher ever.
That's a little thing that struck me after rereading Ala Rubra flashbacks. Nagi doesn't show any respect for ANYBODY, going straight to First-Name Basis (which is considered very rude) and never bothering with any honorifics or titles... except when he's addressing Zect. He always calls him "Master" and what's more doesn't just use the normal "Sensei" but the more old-fashioned "Oshisou". This seems weird to me, since Nagi always seemed like one of those characters that would call their masters "stupid old man" or something in that vein. I can only see two possible explanations for this. First, Zect was such a harsh master that he makes Evangeline and Rakan look like particularity gentle kindergarten teachers and Nagi was simply scared to not show him respect (which would made him the only person whom Nagi was scared of). The other is that he was such an awesome and beloved father-figure for his pupil that he earned enough respect to make Nagi want to call him by the title.
 * Why "or"? Most likely it was both... You need the first to teach something to that dumbhead, you need the second for him to start studying at all...
 * Rakan makes the comment, "I would've though that old demon wouldn't die no matter how many times you killed him!" Given Rakan's own reputation, that's a pretty heavy statement.

Haruna's artifact is a somewhat depowered version of The Lifemaker's power.
He can destroy (and presumably create) people, and she can draw things to life. This leads to...

Haruna and Nodoka can combine their powers...
...To resurrect those destroyed by The Lifemaker's "Rewrite". Haruna can obviously draw people she's met before, and Nodoka can know the thoughts of anyone whose name she knows. With some adaptation of this, to place those thoughts with the people as Haruna draws them, they create the Magic World version of Arise, assuming there's some way to give them permanence. Possibly, this would involve Yue, with her essentially having the strategy guide to Magic World, and Negi, with his "threaten the laws of magic into compliance" ability.

There's more to Nodoka's name-reading device then meets the eye
I mean, it's called The Demon's Lullaby for crying out loud! Does that really sound like something that just reads names? Furthermore, it was found in the Noctis Labyrinthus—a place that Yue is impressed Nodoka made it through alright, and Rakan briefly mentions that he fought "the ultimate spirit of lightning" there—and apparently it was important enough that the whole place collapsed once it was taken.
 * It's also where Arika and Theodora were being held captive by CE before Ala Rubra broke them out.(In chapter 232)

Asuna sword is acctually THE first pactio artifact ever.
The first Pactio partners in history was Mage-Swordsman duo which saved the world. By the direction the story is going Negi and Asuna will soon become Gender Inversed expies of them. To draw the parallel even further, the mage in question is one of Negi's direct (if distant) ancestors. Thus it would be somewhat symbolic if Asuna used the same artifact as her partner.

Chisame has body-image issues
She describes herself as 'plain' or 'ugly' or 'bad skin'. We don't see it, but maybe that's not because of Generic Cuteness; maybe those flaws aren't really there at all. It would help explain why she Photoshops her pictures for her site, and why she seems to often prefer her Chibi-Chiu form. Perhaps she, like many teenage girls, looks in the mirror and sees flaws, imperfections, and such where there aren't any. As we've all seen, she's actually quite pretty, especially with her hair down and glasses off (and the Clothes-Eating Octopus bit and the waterfall-shower scene during the 'Training With Rakan' mini-arc show that she's got a pretty nice figure, too).

The Senate's real aim is to, you guessed it, Take Over the World
We know that Chao comes from a future where there is a 100-year war between Mars and Earth. Assuming Mundus Magicus collapses, then the Senate escapes somehow. But if you think about it, isn't starting a 100-year war as a last resort kind of extreme? Sure, it's difficult/impossible to accomodate that many people, but they do have 20 years from the first time of Cosmo Entelachia trying something to prepare. All they'd need to do is put agents in powerful governments who can to a limited degree influence them, then when the time comes, hit a war-torn third-world region that is known for being in an absolutely terrible state. You'd still create an outcry, but with good enough PR, and the fact that you'd be sparing loads of people from torment might be enough to get them not to kill you. Alternatively, start a war and surrender immediately and rely on the Geneva Convention to take care of you. Or don't even start the war and work with the world to take care of you. It would be dire, but not 100 years of war if you played it sensibly. But we know for a fact that the war has a very high probability of happening, and trying to Take Over the World would certainly cause fighting like that. But trying to take over the world as a last resort is, well, dumb. The Senate tried to get Asuna (well, Arika, but they thought she was responsible) killed. Now, this could be because she could be used to erase Mundus Magicus... or it could be so that Mundus Magicus could not be saved, allowing them to abandon it freely. Cosmo Entelachia appears to be actively trying to prevent this by sealing the Gateports, but if there was another way back to the Old World, the Senate could simply bring their people through that. Furthermore, the World Tree glowing like crazy may indicate that the gate between Mahora and the Old Ostia Gateport is active again. While it would be a logistical nightmare, it may be possible to pack the 67 million-or-so Megalomesembrian citizens into a few thousand pocket planes like the one Theodora gave Negi, and then have a few thousand soldiers carry those with them through the portal during the fighting, they've got a couple of hours. If they could pull something like this off, then the Senate has thus covered for every situation, allowing them to invade the Old World. In fact, it's almost a benefit if they do escape from right under Cosmo Entelachia's nose if they were to succeed with the sealing ritual - it seals a significant portion of the really powerful people who would have been able to stop them.
 * Of course!!

That ship Nagi's riding on when the Ostia capital is falling...is that The Great Paru-sama?
"A used light freighter built nearly 40 years ago. It was mainly used as a smuggling vessel, but there are plausible rumors going around that the Royal Family used it to flee their country during the Great War."
 * OMG, it looks like you may be right here. They indeed look remarkably similar. That just further supports the whole Generation Xerox thing they seem to be pulling off here.
 * The schematic of the Great Paru-Sama included in the Volume 28 strongly implies that this is the case:


 * Come to think of it, that sounds awfully familiar....

The Baka Rangers actually fit perfectly as a sentai outside of a gag.
If you think about it, they fit into the Five-Man Band archetype excellently. Asuna is The Hero, Kaede is The Lancer, Ku is The Big Guy, Yue is The Smart Guy, and Makie is The Chick! Think about it, it's been repeatedly stated that Asuna is more like Nagi then Negi is and Nagi is an excellent example of Idiot Hero, as is Asuna. Asuna also is the only Baka Ranger with a Super Mode in regards to Kanka. It's hard to tell which is stronger between Kaede and Asuna just like any good Lancer. In recent chapters she even does what most Lancers typically do near the end of a sentai show and gets beaten. Ku's dumb honestly but she's crazy strong ((fighting all three remaining Fate Girls at once for example in fully transformed state)) but she clearly has a good heart just like any good Big Guy. Yue's consistent levels in badass have all been obtained by studying like mad. Being philosophical, she was already more brainy than the other baka rangers, she just hated studying. Makie's the weakest of the team like most Pink Rangers seem to be but she's always cheerful and the heart of the team. She also has her own kickass moments of awesome and bravery, with Ako's help granted but it counts. The Sixth Ranger is Negi, who also actually fits a lot of the standard Sixth Ranger tropes such as trying to do things alone, and darker powers. While he is initially arguably weaker than individual members of the team in direct combat due to inexperience, he's quickly become stronger than any of the individual Baka Rangers, like most sixth rangers who are implied to be at least a little stronger than any of the main five, due to usually being an enemy at some point. Just picture them all in ranger suits during the whole of the Storming the Castle bit they're pulling in recent chapters and see how it fits.

The Senate were Cosmo Entelechia plants and maybe still are
Point one, hostile to Arika and Negi. Point two, the guy who was in charge of executing Arika asked for the location of Asuna. CE needs Asuna. Point three, CE launched an attack on Negi's village, again to little point except clearing out a group that was both friendly to Nagi and an area tied to him. Point four, Godel sees them as an enemy on par with Cosmo Entelechia, indicating that they have not really been cleaned up. We know that Godel and Takamichi were hunting down CE in the past, but because he has no proof against the Senate he can't act against them... but Negi can.

Negi and Fate will adopt an even-younger-than-they-look boy with light red hair.
Because that is the only way the Lyrical Nanoha Shout-Out could be more blatant.

Akira and Yuna are cousins.
They do look really similar. Hell, they could be passed off as a mother and a daughter!

The reason Chisame never automatically accepted things like the masses did, even before she properly learned of magic
She has a one-in-a-billion inborn total immunity to all "perception inhibition magic". That's why she's always been able to tell weird things were happening when no-one else could. The ability to see through the obfuscation spells that keep mundanes from accepting/noticing the weirdness they see is part of her... and it can't be turned off. Her hard-fought attempt at a "normal" life was doomed from the very start.

Negi actually stopped aging before the Time Skip
He's just using the age-changing candy and/or the same disguise spells that Eva uses.