The Witch Hunter: Difference between revisions

While a witch hunter may receive supernatural help, whether from angelic or divine patrons, or from being some sort of [[Half-Human Hybrid]], most of them are plain, baseline (if a bit fanatic) humans. In stories where magic is real and their foes really are magic users, that makes them count as [[Badass Normal]]. Having said that, for a witch hunter to operate, magic isn't really needed -- itsneeded—its appearance just makes the difference between being [[I Did What I Had to Do|a harsh]], but possibly (depending on [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|the story's cynicism]]) needed protection from supernatural threats, and a fanatic with barely any (if any at all) redeeming features.

A whole religion made of these guys is [[Church Militant]], and if they're a subdivision of one, they're [[The Inquisition]], but they actually don't have to be [[Badass Preacher|ordained]] -- laymen—laymen are welcome too. Some are freelancers, while others were specifically trained to perform their duties. Since they often face the need to investigate the nature of the threat before [[Burn the Witch|dealing with it]], many are more than a bit of [[Occult Detective]]. And, of course, a Witch Hunter is quite a case of [[The Hunter]].

* The [[Magical Girl|puella magi]] of ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' exist to fight [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]]s which are called "witches." Of course there is a dark twist. {{spoiler|Which is [[And Then John Was a Zombie|They become the Witches]].}}

* Several associations in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' do this but given the rules of the setting, they are [[Talking the Monster to Death|Arguing The Witches To Death]] with logic-fueled swords and thanks to them [[Fair Play Whodunnit|Fair Play Whodunnits]]s exist. [[Mind Screw|Umineko is pretty weird]].

* [[Ur Example|A notorious example from real history:]] [[wikipedia:Matthew Hopkins|Matthew Hopkins]], the original "Witchfinder General". During the [[English Civil War]], Hopkins travelled through eastern England at the head of a team of self-styled witch-hunters; within two years -- fromyears—from 1645 to 1647 -- he1647—he and his accomplice John Stearne caused the death of about 300 women (who were executed by hanging). Though he claimed to have a mandate from the Parliament, this was probably a lie (the title "Witchfinder General" was his own invention) -- however, the Parliament obviously tolerated his actions. As if that wasn't enough, Hopkin's book ''The Discovery of Witches'', which he published shortly before his death in 1647, helped to spread the witch-craze to the New England colonies, where it immediately sparked a wave of [[Witch Hunt|witch-hunts]]. The methods outlined by Hopkins were still used in the Salem witch trials of the 1690s.

[[Category:The Witch Hunter]][[Category:Big Trope Hunting]]