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folkmore ; application
★ Character Information ★
Character Name: Kyoko Sakura
Character Age: Estimated to be 14-16; I'll be playing her as 15
Character Species: Human, but altered -- Her soul has been detached from her body and given the form of a Soul Gem, which also gives her access to magic as a magical girl (see Canon Abilities for more info)
Current Health: Dead
Outfit: A green hoodie over a long-sleeved black shirt showing her belly, cutoff jean shorts, tall brown boots. She'll be missing her traditional black ribbon and father's emblem, since she gave them to Mami before she died. Canon reference.
Character Canon: Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story
Link to History: The Puella Magi series involves multiple timelines. Kyoko's history with Mami (Different Story, volume one) is consistent across them, as Homura's time loop starts some time afterwards, but the rest of Different Story as well as the other entries of the series are all alternate timelines of Madoka Magica that she appears in (and thus reveal different aspects of her personality).
Setting glossary | Kyoko + alt wiki | Madoka Magica (main series) | Different Story (backstory and alt timeline; canon point) | Madoka Magica Portable (alt timeline) | Oriko Magica (alt timeline) | Magia Record (alt timeline)
While in the Madoka Magica anime, we don't know how long Kyoko has been a magical girl, in the Drama CD: Farewell Story (the first telling of Kyoko and Mami's history), it's stated that she was a magical girl for a year before meeting Mami, and then it's estimated that another year passes after that before the start of Madoka Magica. However, in Different Story, Kyoko tells Mami that she's a new magical girl, and Mami is the one who says she'd been a magical girl for about a year by that point.
For the sake of ease, I'm going to assume that Mami had been a magical girl for a little over a year and Kyoko a little under, and that Kyoko assumed that most magical girls survived longer than the reality (she hadn't had much, if any, interaction with other magical girls beforehand). This means, assuming Kyoko is fifteen during the events of Madoka Magica (and similar moments in other timelines), that she contracted with Kyubey when she was thirteen, and then she met Mami when she was fourteen.
Canon Point: Post-death
Canon Iteration: Canon alternate
Canon Iteration Explanation: The first volume of The Different Story covers Kyoko's background, in particular her connection with Mami Tomoe. When it comes to "present day," it diverts from the events from the anime -- Sayaka contracts earlier and joins Mami in the battle against Charlotte, ensuring Mami's survival. Kyoko's return to Mitakihara has everything to do with investigating Mami's new apprentice, and nothing to do with trying to fill the sudden gap in the food chain caused by Mami's death as in the anime. The focus of the storyline is especially on Kyoko, Mami, and Sayaka, as Kyoko first struggles against them as opposing magical girls, even as she helps and bonds with them. Kyoko and Mami manage to reconnect in the midst of their conflicts, while Sayaka grows more distant from the entire cast.
In the end, Sayaka still becomes a witch like in the anime, this time right before Mami's eyes, not Kyoko's. Mami takes the truth about witches very badly, as in all timelines, and sets off to go destroy Sayaka's witch and die in the process. However, Kyoko interferes -- Kyubey and Homura filled her in on the truth about witches, and Kyoko has figured out what Mami's plan is. And she has no intention of letting Mami die, not after she's come to terms with Mami's overwhelmingly positive role in her life. After a gruelling battle, Kyoko manages to win and convinces Mami to stay alive. But they're both out of magic, and so Kyoko defeats Sayaka's witch in order to use the Grief Seed to save Mami's life. She sets out on her own to try to get her own Grief Seed, but since she's low on magic, she dies in the battle. Madoka makes a contract with Kyubey to bring Sayaka back to life (believing it when told Sayaka died to a witch, instead of becoming the witch), but Mami still cannot cope with both the truth about witches and Kyoko's death, and so breaks her own Soul Gem, leaving Homura, Madoka, and Sayaka to face Walpurgisnacht. Unfortunately, we know they must fail and only Homura survives, because this timeline takes place before the events of the anime.
Character Age: Estimated to be 14-16; I'll be playing her as 15
Character Species: Human, but altered -- Her soul has been detached from her body and given the form of a Soul Gem, which also gives her access to magic as a magical girl (see Canon Abilities for more info)
Current Health: Dead
Outfit: A green hoodie over a long-sleeved black shirt showing her belly, cutoff jean shorts, tall brown boots. She'll be missing her traditional black ribbon and father's emblem, since she gave them to Mami before she died. Canon reference.
Character Canon: Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story
Link to History: The Puella Magi series involves multiple timelines. Kyoko's history with Mami (Different Story, volume one) is consistent across them, as Homura's time loop starts some time afterwards, but the rest of Different Story as well as the other entries of the series are all alternate timelines of Madoka Magica that she appears in (and thus reveal different aspects of her personality).
Setting glossary | Kyoko + alt wiki | Madoka Magica (main series) | Different Story (backstory and alt timeline; canon point) | Madoka Magica Portable (alt timeline) | Oriko Magica (alt timeline) | Magia Record (alt timeline)
While in the Madoka Magica anime, we don't know how long Kyoko has been a magical girl, in the Drama CD: Farewell Story (the first telling of Kyoko and Mami's history), it's stated that she was a magical girl for a year before meeting Mami, and then it's estimated that another year passes after that before the start of Madoka Magica. However, in Different Story, Kyoko tells Mami that she's a new magical girl, and Mami is the one who says she'd been a magical girl for about a year by that point.
For the sake of ease, I'm going to assume that Mami had been a magical girl for a little over a year and Kyoko a little under, and that Kyoko assumed that most magical girls survived longer than the reality (she hadn't had much, if any, interaction with other magical girls beforehand). This means, assuming Kyoko is fifteen during the events of Madoka Magica (and similar moments in other timelines), that she contracted with Kyubey when she was thirteen, and then she met Mami when she was fourteen.
Canon Point: Post-death
Canon Iteration: Canon alternate
Canon Iteration Explanation: The first volume of The Different Story covers Kyoko's background, in particular her connection with Mami Tomoe. When it comes to "present day," it diverts from the events from the anime -- Sayaka contracts earlier and joins Mami in the battle against Charlotte, ensuring Mami's survival. Kyoko's return to Mitakihara has everything to do with investigating Mami's new apprentice, and nothing to do with trying to fill the sudden gap in the food chain caused by Mami's death as in the anime. The focus of the storyline is especially on Kyoko, Mami, and Sayaka, as Kyoko first struggles against them as opposing magical girls, even as she helps and bonds with them. Kyoko and Mami manage to reconnect in the midst of their conflicts, while Sayaka grows more distant from the entire cast.
In the end, Sayaka still becomes a witch like in the anime, this time right before Mami's eyes, not Kyoko's. Mami takes the truth about witches very badly, as in all timelines, and sets off to go destroy Sayaka's witch and die in the process. However, Kyoko interferes -- Kyubey and Homura filled her in on the truth about witches, and Kyoko has figured out what Mami's plan is. And she has no intention of letting Mami die, not after she's come to terms with Mami's overwhelmingly positive role in her life. After a gruelling battle, Kyoko manages to win and convinces Mami to stay alive. But they're both out of magic, and so Kyoko defeats Sayaka's witch in order to use the Grief Seed to save Mami's life. She sets out on her own to try to get her own Grief Seed, but since she's low on magic, she dies in the battle. Madoka makes a contract with Kyubey to bring Sayaka back to life (believing it when told Sayaka died to a witch, instead of becoming the witch), but Mami still cannot cope with both the truth about witches and Kyoko's death, and so breaks her own Soul Gem, leaving Homura, Madoka, and Sayaka to face Walpurgisnacht. Unfortunately, we know they must fail and only Homura survives, because this timeline takes place before the events of the anime.
★ Folkmore Roles & Attributes ★
Skills:
★ Adaptability; Kyoko has changed the way she lives, fights, and even thinks in order to survive
★ Gremlin street smarts; stealing, breaking and entering, evading arrest...
★ Combat; focus in polearms but she's scrappy and can apply fundamentals and reaction time in other ways as needed
★ Spying; her preferred method is getting up high and watching from afar when possible, as well as lots and lots of eavesdropping
★ Food caching, making small amounts of food stretch, etc.
Canon Abilities:
★ Soul Gem: Kyoko's soul has been removed/detached from her body and given physical form
- Benefits: Access to magic; reduces pain of combat; can control body if within 100m of Soul Gem
- Downsides: If body is outside 100m of Soul Gem, it collapses as a corpse. Requires maintenance (purification, done in-canon with Grief Seeds). Soul Gem taint (caused by magic use and emotional state) reduces available magic for usage. If Soul Gem becomes fully tainted, she will become a Witch
* I'm planning on having Kyoko buy Grief Seeds through Spoon Spending. Those used-up Grief Seeds do need to be dealt with somehow, because if left alone, they'll hatch into Witches, but maybe that can be part of the Spoon deal or something? Where they're special Grief Seeds that go poof once they're used up? ???? I'll defer to mod judgment on that
★ Standard magical girl powers:
- Passive: Pain resistance, magic sense, magical healing, telepathy, anime feats of acrobatics, mini-weapon summonable (attached to Soul Gem), can imbue items with magic, can change shape of Soul Gem from gem to engraved silver ring
- Transformation: Outfit change (including Soul Gem, changed into a unique shape), weapon summoning, full access to magic unlocked
★ Personal magical girl powers:
- Kyoko's magical healing is less effective than other magical girls'
- Weapon: A long spear that can be broken down into chain-connected segments
- Unique ability: Based on the wish she made a contract for. Kyoko's is called Rosso Fantasma, and allows her to create illusions (disguising items as other items, making duplicates of herself, etc.)
* Note: Kyoko lost access to Rosso Fantasma when she rejected her wish after her family died. Over the course of Different Story, she regains access to it, but has to re-develop her skill with it, like an atrophied muscle
Role: Legend
Role Qualities/Attributes: Kyoko will have the "person needs help" sense, much to her irritation. Her wings will appear when she's transformed (and then she won't be able to dismiss/hide them), but start out small, with the color kind of faded and dull. Aside from that, everything else will ideally adapt over time depending on her Character Growth.
★ Positive development will see her wings growing into full-sized, traditional white angel wings
★ Eventually, once she hits a big enough Character Growth moment, she'll "earn" her halo
★ At that point, her magical girl outfit will also change, adopting elements from this alternate design (but not taking on the full outfit)
- She'll also appropriately create new magical attacks akin to the ones used by her Doppel Version
- While the Doppel Version is from a different timeline than my chosen canon point, I believe it's appropriate with the themes. It's based on her Witch, and symbolizes her coming to full acceptance of herself
- In calling on the combined symbolisms from her Witch (expanded on in Personality), it's almost like bringing it all together into a new legend, one of her very own
★ If she focuses on developing her healing magic skills, I want to figure out some kind of connection to unicorns, due to some in-canon symbolism, but don't have any particular ideas atm
Role Reasoning:
★ For starters, the whole "Legends getting swept up in their emotions" thing perfectly lines up with the whole "magical girls' emotions are tied to their existence" thing. Also, it pairs well with Kyoko's impulsivity
★ While she's definitely in the morally gray category, her core desire is to protect. There's a good heart underneath all her defensive layers, and her positive character development arc will be centered around getting back in tune with that and adjusting her behaviors accordingly (and also processing her traumas)
★ Her father ran a church, styled generically Catholic-like (but more likely to be Anglican since he was, y'know, married with kids), and the concept of "faith" is key to her overall character, so leaning into the angel motifs works
★ All the same, if her character development takes a nosedive and goes negative enough, she's a very real candidate for "falling" and becoming a myth, at which point she'll take on traits of her Witch, Ophelia, which already has strong ties to several mythologies
★ Adaptability; Kyoko has changed the way she lives, fights, and even thinks in order to survive
★ Gremlin street smarts; stealing, breaking and entering, evading arrest...
★ Combat; focus in polearms but she's scrappy and can apply fundamentals and reaction time in other ways as needed
★ Spying; her preferred method is getting up high and watching from afar when possible, as well as lots and lots of eavesdropping
★ Food caching, making small amounts of food stretch, etc.
Canon Abilities:
★ Soul Gem: Kyoko's soul has been removed/detached from her body and given physical form
- Benefits: Access to magic; reduces pain of combat; can control body if within 100m of Soul Gem
- Downsides: If body is outside 100m of Soul Gem, it collapses as a corpse. Requires maintenance (purification, done in-canon with Grief Seeds). Soul Gem taint (caused by magic use and emotional state) reduces available magic for usage. If Soul Gem becomes fully tainted, she will become a Witch
* I'm planning on having Kyoko buy Grief Seeds through Spoon Spending. Those used-up Grief Seeds do need to be dealt with somehow, because if left alone, they'll hatch into Witches, but maybe that can be part of the Spoon deal or something? Where they're special Grief Seeds that go poof once they're used up? ???? I'll defer to mod judgment on that
★ Standard magical girl powers:
- Passive: Pain resistance, magic sense, magical healing, telepathy, anime feats of acrobatics, mini-weapon summonable (attached to Soul Gem), can imbue items with magic, can change shape of Soul Gem from gem to engraved silver ring
- Transformation: Outfit change (including Soul Gem, changed into a unique shape), weapon summoning, full access to magic unlocked
★ Personal magical girl powers:
- Kyoko's magical healing is less effective than other magical girls'
- Weapon: A long spear that can be broken down into chain-connected segments
- Unique ability: Based on the wish she made a contract for. Kyoko's is called Rosso Fantasma, and allows her to create illusions (disguising items as other items, making duplicates of herself, etc.)
* Note: Kyoko lost access to Rosso Fantasma when she rejected her wish after her family died. Over the course of Different Story, she regains access to it, but has to re-develop her skill with it, like an atrophied muscle
Role: Legend
Role Qualities/Attributes: Kyoko will have the "person needs help" sense, much to her irritation. Her wings will appear when she's transformed (and then she won't be able to dismiss/hide them), but start out small, with the color kind of faded and dull. Aside from that, everything else will ideally adapt over time depending on her Character Growth.
★ Positive development will see her wings growing into full-sized, traditional white angel wings
★ Eventually, once she hits a big enough Character Growth moment, she'll "earn" her halo
★ At that point, her magical girl outfit will also change, adopting elements from this alternate design (but not taking on the full outfit)
- She'll also appropriately create new magical attacks akin to the ones used by her Doppel Version
- While the Doppel Version is from a different timeline than my chosen canon point, I believe it's appropriate with the themes. It's based on her Witch, and symbolizes her coming to full acceptance of herself
- In calling on the combined symbolisms from her Witch (expanded on in Personality), it's almost like bringing it all together into a new legend, one of her very own
★ If she focuses on developing her healing magic skills, I want to figure out some kind of connection to unicorns, due to some in-canon symbolism, but don't have any particular ideas atm
Role Reasoning:
★ For starters, the whole "Legends getting swept up in their emotions" thing perfectly lines up with the whole "magical girls' emotions are tied to their existence" thing. Also, it pairs well with Kyoko's impulsivity
★ While she's definitely in the morally gray category, her core desire is to protect. There's a good heart underneath all her defensive layers, and her positive character development arc will be centered around getting back in tune with that and adjusting her behaviors accordingly (and also processing her traumas)
★ Her father ran a church, styled generically Catholic-like (but more likely to be Anglican since he was, y'know, married with kids), and the concept of "faith" is key to her overall character, so leaning into the angel motifs works
★ All the same, if her character development takes a nosedive and goes negative enough, she's a very real candidate for "falling" and becoming a myth, at which point she'll take on traits of her Witch, Ophelia, which already has strong ties to several mythologies
★ Personality ★
Option 2
What was the most traumatic experience your character endured? How did this change them? + What experience challenged your character's core beliefs? How did they handle this or change from it?
Two questions for the price of one! Because it's all linked to the same incident, I thought it'd be appropriate to talk about it all together. The entire situation around Kyoko becoming a magical girl and what happened to her family afterwards was monumental for her, serving as both her most traumatic experience and the event that challenged her core beliefs the most.
The event: Kyoko became a magical girl to help her priest father's dream become reality, which also helped her destitute family survive. But when her father found out his new congregation was all due to magic, he lashed out at Kyoko, calling her a witch, and spiralled wildly from there. It culminated in him killing Kyoko's mother and younger sister, burning their home and church, and killing himself as well.
Her reaction? She blamed herself wholly. She decided she'd been too idealistic and selfish by not considering what her father actually wanted. She felt she should have used her magic only for herself, not on the behalf of anyone else, because then she would've been the only one to suffer. So, she pledged to live that way from then on.
She hardened her heart, buried her old ideals of heroism and helping others, and decided to allow people to die to Witch's familiars. She once was a rambunctious girl who wanted to protect those she cares about, but became a delinquint prone to picking fights and saying cruel things to get reactions. Her belief in friendship and magic saving the day warped into one about how hope and despair always balanced out into zero.
What is the most important and defining relationship(s) in your character's life and why?
★ Her family — Kyoko really idolized her father, relied on her mother, and wanted very dearly to protect her sister. Before, uh, "everything happened," they were her entire world. When she lost them, she almost shattered entirely. They still color her every day life, never far from her mind.
★ Mami — Her senpai who taught her so much about how to survive as a magical girl. And also the reason why Kyoko didn't become a Witch when her family died, because at her lowest moment, Kyoko thought of her, and managed to hold on. Kyoko separated from her after her family died, part self-destruction, part knowing that Mami wouldn't accept her new coping mechanisms, and part inferiority complex, feeling like she could never be like Mami. But after reuniting and reconnecting, Kyoko confessed that Mami is "the only family [she has] left."
★ Sayaka — Kyoko looks at her and sees herself before her life fell apart. Despite her pledge to live selfishly, she simply couldn't leave Sayaka alone, and tried to keep her from "turn[ing] out like [Kyoko]," thereby saving her from Kyoko's own mistakes. Sayaka is not only a reminder of the ideals she left behind, but she rekindles those feelings, too.
★ Honorable mentions: Homura and Madoka — The first, a temporary partner, and the second, a secret friend. Despite being cool and stand-offish, Homura looked after Kyoko in her own way. And Madoka could easily have become like a new little sister to Kyoko, if they had been friends longer.
What does your character feel like they struggle with still? Where could they improve? This could be physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise.
★ Self-expression — There is a mismatch between what Kyoko wants to do, and what she actually does. It's easy for her to get swept up in her kneejerk reactions, which of course can be very tainted by her traumas, and end up saying things she not only doesn't mean, but regrets immediately afterwards. It's frustrating for her, and one of the top flaws she's aware of and wants to fix.
★ Balancing her old feelings with her experiences — Her old beliefs are important to her, and have never truly gone away. But they're difficult to reconcile with her traumas and negative experiences. How do you balance experience-based cynicism with a desire for hope? She has no idea where to even begin. But she can't reject either one, even if she wanted to do so again.
★ Rosso Fantasma — Tied closely with processing her trauma, though she doesn't directly think about it like that. She wants to improve her skill with creating illusions, get them back to where they used to be, if not better. Which means practice, on one hand, but on the other, it also means further acceptance of herself and processing what she's been through.
What famous folklore, legend, or myth would you associate your character with? Are they literally inspired by Snow White? Do they have similar struggles or energy as Red Riding Hood?
★ Ophelia — From the her Witch's wiki: "[Shakespeare's] Ophelia [is] linked to the ideas of regret, corrupted innocence, and unrequited love." Aka, intrinsic themes for Kyoko. Other highlights:
- Being positioned between her father and love interest; Kyoko is often shipped with Sayaka and Mami, but they also can represent Kyoko's old ideals and who she wanted to be, which is important considering the role Kyoko's father has in her life.
- Death related to suicide, especially romanticized; suicide comes up repeatedly in Kyoko's histories, between her father's death, her own death in Madoka Magica, and how she tries to save Sayaka and Mami from self-destructing.
★ Wudan — "A type of female role in Chinese opera specialized in fighting." The form that Kyoko's Witch takes, connecting to Kyoko's illusion magic. Plays are all about the illusion of a story, after all.
- Wu Dan specifically playing warriors ties to how much Kyoko defines herself by fighting. It's her "job," it's how she survives, it's sometimes the easiest way she finds to communicate.
- It also ties into Kyoko's personality (and tsundere trope): What you see isn't the whole picture. It's easy to judge a book by its cover with Kyoko, but her behaviors hide her true heart.
★ Headless Horseman — In German folklore, "[t]hey were revenants who [wandered] the earth until they atoned for their sins, sometimes by doing a good deed for a stranger." This parallels neatly with Kyoko's promise to Mami at the end of The Different Story about living on to atone for her sins, as well as her deaths in the different timelines.
Also, this quote from Ophelia's description: "She can no longer remember what the horse that always accompanies her was." It symbolizes the parts of herself she buried after her family died.
What was the most traumatic experience your character endured? How did this change them? + What experience challenged your character's core beliefs? How did they handle this or change from it?
Two questions for the price of one! Because it's all linked to the same incident, I thought it'd be appropriate to talk about it all together. The entire situation around Kyoko becoming a magical girl and what happened to her family afterwards was monumental for her, serving as both her most traumatic experience and the event that challenged her core beliefs the most.
The event: Kyoko became a magical girl to help her priest father's dream become reality, which also helped her destitute family survive. But when her father found out his new congregation was all due to magic, he lashed out at Kyoko, calling her a witch, and spiralled wildly from there. It culminated in him killing Kyoko's mother and younger sister, burning their home and church, and killing himself as well.
Her reaction? She blamed herself wholly. She decided she'd been too idealistic and selfish by not considering what her father actually wanted. She felt she should have used her magic only for herself, not on the behalf of anyone else, because then she would've been the only one to suffer. So, she pledged to live that way from then on.
She hardened her heart, buried her old ideals of heroism and helping others, and decided to allow people to die to Witch's familiars. She once was a rambunctious girl who wanted to protect those she cares about, but became a delinquint prone to picking fights and saying cruel things to get reactions. Her belief in friendship and magic saving the day warped into one about how hope and despair always balanced out into zero.
What is the most important and defining relationship(s) in your character's life and why?
★ Her family — Kyoko really idolized her father, relied on her mother, and wanted very dearly to protect her sister. Before, uh, "everything happened," they were her entire world. When she lost them, she almost shattered entirely. They still color her every day life, never far from her mind.
★ Mami — Her senpai who taught her so much about how to survive as a magical girl. And also the reason why Kyoko didn't become a Witch when her family died, because at her lowest moment, Kyoko thought of her, and managed to hold on. Kyoko separated from her after her family died, part self-destruction, part knowing that Mami wouldn't accept her new coping mechanisms, and part inferiority complex, feeling like she could never be like Mami. But after reuniting and reconnecting, Kyoko confessed that Mami is "the only family [she has] left."
★ Sayaka — Kyoko looks at her and sees herself before her life fell apart. Despite her pledge to live selfishly, she simply couldn't leave Sayaka alone, and tried to keep her from "turn[ing] out like [Kyoko]," thereby saving her from Kyoko's own mistakes. Sayaka is not only a reminder of the ideals she left behind, but she rekindles those feelings, too.
★ Honorable mentions: Homura and Madoka — The first, a temporary partner, and the second, a secret friend. Despite being cool and stand-offish, Homura looked after Kyoko in her own way. And Madoka could easily have become like a new little sister to Kyoko, if they had been friends longer.
What does your character feel like they struggle with still? Where could they improve? This could be physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise.
★ Self-expression — There is a mismatch between what Kyoko wants to do, and what she actually does. It's easy for her to get swept up in her kneejerk reactions, which of course can be very tainted by her traumas, and end up saying things she not only doesn't mean, but regrets immediately afterwards. It's frustrating for her, and one of the top flaws she's aware of and wants to fix.
★ Balancing her old feelings with her experiences — Her old beliefs are important to her, and have never truly gone away. But they're difficult to reconcile with her traumas and negative experiences. How do you balance experience-based cynicism with a desire for hope? She has no idea where to even begin. But she can't reject either one, even if she wanted to do so again.
★ Rosso Fantasma — Tied closely with processing her trauma, though she doesn't directly think about it like that. She wants to improve her skill with creating illusions, get them back to where they used to be, if not better. Which means practice, on one hand, but on the other, it also means further acceptance of herself and processing what she's been through.
What famous folklore, legend, or myth would you associate your character with? Are they literally inspired by Snow White? Do they have similar struggles or energy as Red Riding Hood?
★ Ophelia — From the her Witch's wiki: "[Shakespeare's] Ophelia [is] linked to the ideas of regret, corrupted innocence, and unrequited love." Aka, intrinsic themes for Kyoko. Other highlights:
- Being positioned between her father and love interest; Kyoko is often shipped with Sayaka and Mami, but they also can represent Kyoko's old ideals and who she wanted to be, which is important considering the role Kyoko's father has in her life.
- Death related to suicide, especially romanticized; suicide comes up repeatedly in Kyoko's histories, between her father's death, her own death in Madoka Magica, and how she tries to save Sayaka and Mami from self-destructing.
★ Wudan — "A type of female role in Chinese opera specialized in fighting." The form that Kyoko's Witch takes, connecting to Kyoko's illusion magic. Plays are all about the illusion of a story, after all.
- Wu Dan specifically playing warriors ties to how much Kyoko defines herself by fighting. It's her "job," it's how she survives, it's sometimes the easiest way she finds to communicate.
- It also ties into Kyoko's personality (and tsundere trope): What you see isn't the whole picture. It's easy to judge a book by its cover with Kyoko, but her behaviors hide her true heart.
★ Headless Horseman — In German folklore, "[t]hey were revenants who [wandered] the earth until they atoned for their sins, sometimes by doing a good deed for a stranger." This parallels neatly with Kyoko's promise to Mami at the end of The Different Story about living on to atone for her sins, as well as her deaths in the different timelines.
Also, this quote from Ophelia's description: "She can no longer remember what the horse that always accompanies her was." It symbolizes the parts of herself she buried after her family died.
★ Player Information ★