This is a post for general information on setting-specific Magical Girl creation and all things related! This will incorporate hover-text over terms that may need explaining without bogging down the text with too many words. I will be using my own character, Kaur, as an example throughout.
Creation - Where do Magical Girls come from?
OOCly, Magical Girls are a power fantasy for the generally most powerless part of the population - young girls. Every day girls who, when they're called upon, transform from the powerless demanded by society to the power to say otherwise - to stop villains, to save their loved ones, to save the world.
ICly, Magical Girls can be anyone who isn't a cis male, at any age group - but more likely to be younger. These people start out as every day, mundane beings, living their lives as any other might in whatever their circumstances might be. Then, one day, a crisis comes (say, it's the night before the arranged marriage your very religious father is forcing you in to), and their desperation to escape their powerless position catches attention.
Attention of what? As yet, there is no answer to this question; whatever Benefactor - if it can be called such - that is behind this phenomenon has yet to be unmasked. The Girls themselves can't tell you - or, won't.
Magical Girls are offered a choice, a Wish - to continue through with the crisis (in Kaur's case, to marry a man she absolutely does not wish to), or to escape - at a price.
Powers - at a cost; A job to do
If their Wish is to be granted, they must serve the Benefactor and hunt down ghosts and the like, destroying and collecting the essence of these supernatural beings. Whatever purpose this serves is unknown; Magical Girls, however, are more than vaguely aware that refusal to do the task will result in their slowly weakening and losing ability to even function in their day to day life. Collecting the supernatural essence is directly tied to a Magical Girl's power. Magical Girls experience none of their powers if in their mundane, 'true' form.
Supernatural Body - Magical Girls, upon being granted their new lives and powers, find that - during transformation - they are, in a way, impervious to damage. While they can take damage, they do not experience the pain as their human selves might, nor do they suffer from it as easily. Damage heals quickly (if a Magical Girl is on top of her essence collection), and it takes far more brutality to their body to bring them down; things that would normally kill a human are not so to a Magical Girl. Furthermore, their endurance for physical activity is increased - and many even find that their strength is vastly increased, along with their speed.
Spirit Sight - How else would a Magical Girl complete their job? While transformed, Magical Girls are capable of seeing spirits, ghosts, and any form of incorporeal supernatural. This ability allows, at the same time, for any of the Magical Girl's attacks to hit and penetrate these beings that otherwise would be untouchable. As for less-obvious supernaturals outside of their main prey, they may get a feeling that something is 'up'.
Convert Supernatural Essence - Upon defeating any form of supernatural being - their intended prey or otherwise - a Magical Girl may then, with no effort or magic required, convert the being's essence into usable energy, which is automatically consumed by the caster.
Uniqueness - Every Magical Girl is different
Unique Power(s) - Every Magical Girl gains her own, unique, ability - this is usually only one power, but could be two. In Kaur's case, it is Combat Adaption - whenever she is attacked, she may gain armour in reaction to prevent further damage; a gun, say, would cause her to gain Kevlar armour, while a werewolf or vampire would cause her to gain a suit of silver armour. These powers are tied directly to the character's personality, life situation, or wish - Kaur is autistic and throws up a constant mask to suit every situation to blend in and be 'normal', and her wish was to live as a 'normal' girl, another thing that requires adaptability - thus her power is that she conforms to the situation (silver re: werewolves, kevlar re: bullets).
Weapons - Another thing unique to every Magical Girl is her weapon. These are tied completely to personality. Kaur is a cowardly person who avoids any chance of ever getting hurt, thus her weapon is a gun - something that can be fired from a distance and prevent her from likely taking any damage.
The Transformation Itself - A more minor detail in the grand scheme of things, but very in-your-face, is the visual physical change that comes over every Magical Girl. Theory is that the change of clothing, hair colour, and eye colour are an effort for secrecy; many would laugh at such a thought. Still, fact is, every Magical Girl has her own unique 'uniform' that matches to her personality and absolutely does not necessarily have to be a sailor fuku. Eye colour change is another oddity - it seems to change to whatever the main colour of their 'theme' is - in Kaur's case, Salmon; her hats, bows, shoes, and often any unique items tend to come in the same colour. The hair colour change (in Kaur's case, from dark brown to white) seems to be arbitrary and unrelated to anything else, and does not change with their outfits. Many Magical Girls innately recognize a separate name for their alternate identity (In Kaur's case, Tachs).
Epilogue - What happens to Magical Girls, in the end?
All good things must come to an end. This end comes in two flavours: death, and Witches. Death is a little more permanent than the latter; death erases the Magical Girl's official existence, but not necessarily the memories they've invoked.
What about Witches, though? A witch is what happens when a Magical Girl falls into despair, into the evils of their conscious. Be it a true alignment shift (from anything other than Good or Neutral) or an inability to cope, a Witch is the result.
A Witch will find theirself unable to return to their previous life - their 'true' form is inaccessible. Their visual appearance also changes, making them unmistakable from whom they were before, and likely unmistakable from any ordinary human. This altered appearance comes with altered needs - no longer will the essence of the supernatural satiate these fallen beings: instead, it is the very lives of those they'd previously been meant to protect that continue their existence. A Witch will find she must feed - and feed often - on the souls of the general human population in order to continue to function; a Witch is constantly 'transformed', and thus their body constantly uses magic to function, thus a much higher 'metabolism', as it were, than an ordinary Magical Girl.
Witches do not lose their previous powers, per se - but they may, instead, be updated for new powers based on the reason for the Witch's corrupted existence; their weapon should stay the same. A new name befitting their new identity is a must.
Redemption, at least for those who become Witches outside of Alignment changes, is possible; the end of a Witch is either to be returned to their life as a Magical Girl, or death.
Creation - Where do Magical Girls come from?
OOCly, Magical Girls are a power fantasy for the generally most powerless part of the population - young girls. Every day girls who, when they're called upon, transform from the powerless demanded by society to the power to say otherwise - to stop villains, to save their loved ones, to save the world.
ICly, Magical Girls can be anyone who isn't a cis male, at any age group - but more likely to be younger. These people start out as every day, mundane beings, living their lives as any other might in whatever their circumstances might be. Then, one day, a crisis comes (say, it's the night before the arranged marriage your very religious father is forcing you in to), and their desperation to escape their powerless position catches attention.
Attention of what? As yet, there is no answer to this question; whatever Benefactor - if it can be called such - that is behind this phenomenon has yet to be unmasked. The Girls themselves can't tell you - or, won't.
Magical Girls are offered a choice, a Wish - to continue through with the crisis (in Kaur's case, to marry a man she absolutely does not wish to), or to escape - at a price.
Powers - at a cost; A job to do
If their Wish is to be granted, they must serve the Benefactor and hunt down ghosts and the like, destroying and collecting the essence of these supernatural beings. Whatever purpose this serves is unknown; Magical Girls, however, are more than vaguely aware that refusal to do the task will result in their slowly weakening and losing ability to even function in their day to day life. Collecting the supernatural essence is directly tied to a Magical Girl's power. Magical Girls experience none of their powers if in their mundane, 'true' form.
Supernatural Body - Magical Girls, upon being granted their new lives and powers, find that - during transformation - they are, in a way, impervious to damage. While they can take damage, they do not experience the pain as their human selves might, nor do they suffer from it as easily. Damage heals quickly (if a Magical Girl is on top of her essence collection), and it takes far more brutality to their body to bring them down; things that would normally kill a human are not so to a Magical Girl. Furthermore, their endurance for physical activity is increased - and many even find that their strength is vastly increased, along with their speed.
Spirit Sight - How else would a Magical Girl complete their job? While transformed, Magical Girls are capable of seeing spirits, ghosts, and any form of incorporeal supernatural. This ability allows, at the same time, for any of the Magical Girl's attacks to hit and penetrate these beings that otherwise would be untouchable. As for less-obvious supernaturals outside of their main prey, they may get a feeling that something is 'up'.
Convert Supernatural Essence - Upon defeating any form of supernatural being - their intended prey or otherwise - a Magical Girl may then, with no effort or magic required, convert the being's essence into usable energy, which is automatically consumed by the caster.
Uniqueness - Every Magical Girl is different
Unique Power(s) - Every Magical Girl gains her own, unique, ability - this is usually only one power, but could be two. In Kaur's case, it is Combat Adaption - whenever she is attacked, she may gain armour in reaction to prevent further damage; a gun, say, would cause her to gain Kevlar armour, while a werewolf or vampire would cause her to gain a suit of silver armour. These powers are tied directly to the character's personality, life situation, or wish - Kaur is autistic and throws up a constant mask to suit every situation to blend in and be 'normal', and her wish was to live as a 'normal' girl, another thing that requires adaptability - thus her power is that she conforms to the situation (silver re: werewolves, kevlar re: bullets).
Weapons - Another thing unique to every Magical Girl is her weapon. These are tied completely to personality. Kaur is a cowardly person who avoids any chance of ever getting hurt, thus her weapon is a gun - something that can be fired from a distance and prevent her from likely taking any damage.
The Transformation Itself - A more minor detail in the grand scheme of things, but very in-your-face, is the visual physical change that comes over every Magical Girl. Theory is that the change of clothing, hair colour, and eye colour are an effort for secrecy; many would laugh at such a thought. Still, fact is, every Magical Girl has her own unique 'uniform' that matches to her personality and absolutely does not necessarily have to be a sailor fuku. Eye colour change is another oddity - it seems to change to whatever the main colour of their 'theme' is - in Kaur's case, Salmon; her hats, bows, shoes, and often any unique items tend to come in the same colour. The hair colour change (in Kaur's case, from dark brown to white) seems to be arbitrary and unrelated to anything else, and does not change with their outfits. Many Magical Girls innately recognize a separate name for their alternate identity (In Kaur's case, Tachs).
Epilogue - What happens to Magical Girls, in the end?
All good things must come to an end. This end comes in two flavours: death, and Witches. Death is a little more permanent than the latter; death erases the Magical Girl's official existence, but not necessarily the memories they've invoked.
What about Witches, though? A witch is what happens when a Magical Girl falls into despair, into the evils of their conscious. Be it a true alignment shift (from anything other than Good or Neutral) or an inability to cope, a Witch is the result.
A Witch will find theirself unable to return to their previous life - their 'true' form is inaccessible. Their visual appearance also changes, making them unmistakable from whom they were before, and likely unmistakable from any ordinary human. This altered appearance comes with altered needs - no longer will the essence of the supernatural satiate these fallen beings: instead, it is the very lives of those they'd previously been meant to protect that continue their existence. A Witch will find she must feed - and feed often - on the souls of the general human population in order to continue to function; a Witch is constantly 'transformed', and thus their body constantly uses magic to function, thus a much higher 'metabolism', as it were, than an ordinary Magical Girl.
Witches do not lose their previous powers, per se - but they may, instead, be updated for new powers based on the reason for the Witch's corrupted existence; their weapon should stay the same. A new name befitting their new identity is a must.
Redemption, at least for those who become Witches outside of Alignment changes, is possible; the end of a Witch is either to be returned to their life as a Magical Girl, or death.
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