linked universe

Labyrinths are the otherworlds that Witches and their Familiars hide themselves in. The portals are hidden to regular civilians, only visible to Magical Boys and Incubators. The Witches are grotesque surreal supernatural beings invisible to humans and are born of curses; negative emotions and feed on humans and their negative emotions. They tend to create and hide within reality warping spaces, otherworlds or dimensions known as Labyrinths alongside their Familiars. They drop Grief Seeds once defeated.

A Magical Boy is a boy who has contracted with a messenger of magic known as Kyubey, having one wish granted and in exchange, the contractees must fight, battle and defeat witches to obtain Grief Seeds. Later, it is revealed that Magical Boys are actually meant to rebirth into and become Witches someday, when all their hopes and dreams will be lost and destroyed. At the current moment, none of the Magical Boys know of this.

Time is a stoic and serious person, acting almost as the mentor and father to the group. Despite that serious and straightforward demeanour, they can be playful and joyful, like a child. They have a spark for mischief to them beneath that dad-act. They act as the Leader. They answer any and all questions about their civilian life very cryptically, as they are a very secretly open person.

Twilight acts as the "big brother" figure, protective and caring, but with a rougher edge. He deeply cares for his group and hates to see them suffering. He treats them all like his own family, caring for them as if they were blood, but he can be a bit too much sometimes. Twilight works as a sort of deputy leader and protector of the group.

Sky is very sweet, humble, and innocent, but can be fierce in battle. Sky is usually sleepy and tired, but cares a lot for those he holds close. At times, it can seem like Sky is a bit of a romantic, but its just apart of what comes with care. Sky acts as a bit of an emotional support for the group.

Warriors is a confident, charming, and skilled strategist. He acts as a captain figure, although he can be vain and flirty. He holds a bit of pride and grandiosity in himself, but knows not to let it mess with him. Warriors loves to joke around with the group, but is more than aware of when to be serious and when to tone it down. He puts on a serene, elegant and graceful front a lot, coming from a higher class background. He acts as a mix of a captain and tactician for the Chain, having fought and won a war before.

Legend is the "experienced" or "veteran" hero of the group, having been a Magical Boy for the second longest (behind Time), but having been the most places. He is often depicted as cynical, prickly, and easily annoyed, but it's because he does not want to bear the pain of having to say goodbye to one you are close with. He learned that the hard way. Legend is the strategist and realist of the group.

Four is a quiet and observant blacksmith who can split into four copies. They are often depicted as meticulous and reserved, but have a great emotional understanding and a wide range of feeling, even if it causes them to get a bit aggressive when ticked off and in fights. They try to keep a sense of rationale between the group.

Wild is the amnesiac, chaotic, and survival-focused hero. He is an excellent cook and often acts as the "gremlin" of the group, wanting to make the others laugh during these tough battles and hard times. He is the group’s amnesiac survivalist, chef, and chaotic wildcard, always making sure the group has food on their plates.

Wind, being the youngest and most energetic, often acts as a storyteller of the group. He is a sailor and a cheerful, optimistic presence with the determination of ten men. He tries to cheer everyone up alongside Wild and helps with mapping out where they've ventured and scouting. He's the group's navigator.

Hyrule is a quiet, kind, and slightly naive traveller who just wants to explore. He is skilled in magic, particularly healing. Hyrule is a bit introverted but wants to help however he can, especially as the Medic of the group. Hyrule is blessed with fae magic, that mainly involves wounds. However, he can be very much a prankster and a master of all tricks, much alike Time.

Shadow is a neutral, chaotic Shadow Creature born from Four summoning them on the battle field. They act as an active instigator who manipulated Witches' Labyrinths, and took pleasure in causing chaos across the Chain. Shadow can be misanthropic at times, but after spending some time with the others, they've grown to join the morally ambiguous side and can be more bearable. At the end of the day, they are on Four's, and by proxy, the Chain's side.

Ravio was (and still sort of is) inherently cowardly and prefers avoiding danger. He may panic when on the battlefield but he will always fight anyway, heavily reliant on his weapon arsenal and magic. In combat, he fights using his oversized Pawko Hammer (now with spikes) and a variety of his storage's inventory, such as the grenades and pipe bombs, reflecting his inventor background. He can also utilise heavy amounts of Dark Magic at his will. Unlike his more quiet sister Hilda, Ravio is highly talkative, often rambling and babbling whenever given a chance to. He presents himself with a silver-tongued, eccentric merchant eager to make a quick buck. He can be very intelligent and wise, of course due to his wish. He's very morally grey, but help when needed.

Kyubey, also known as the Messenger of Magic, is a cat-like creature known as an Incubator. Despite appearing and sounding somewhat human, Kyubey is an Incubator and has no personal understanding of human emotion. Despite appearing as an individual, Kyubey and the rest of the Incubators do not seem to have a distinct sense of self. On the occasions where a Kyubey is killed, another will step out and continue to converse as if nothing had occurred. The Incubators are an emotionless race, but seek to exploit the thermodynamics-violating emotions of the human race to produce energy and prevent the Heat Death of the Universe, the ultimate end of the universe itself. The fact that the system they use to harvest this power-- Magical Boys and Witches-- would be considered horrendously evil by humans, is inconsequential to the Incubators. They choose this method because it is the most expedient to their goals. No action they take is ultimately malicious, as they do not themselves experience or understand the emotions required to act in such a way. Everything about Kyubey, however, is implied to make it as appealing as possible to the Magical Boys (by leaving out potentially traumatizing details about it), as well as emulating behaviors and 'emotions' for the same purpose. This lack of understanding ultimately results in Kyubey being unable to predict or understand the actions of the Magical Boys or the results of those actions, despite them being obvious to the boys themselves.

Grief Seed is an item Witches drop once defeated and is said to be necessary for the survival of all Magical Boys. Grief Seeds are small dark orbs surrounded by grey designs around them that differ from Witch to Witch and have a cane on the bottom of the orb and above one can see the motif of a Witch. Grief Seeds are vital to Magical Boys, as they cleanse their Soul Gems of impurities, and regenerate Life Force and Magical Energy.