Quote:[b]Necratoid wrote:[/b]Okay, when a Soul Gem collects too much corruption, from using too much magic, and/or from giving in to despair the Soul Gem shatters, releasing a corrupted soul, a Witch. Witches are like the Magical Girl's pain and suffering, the things she desired (not her Wish that empowered her). This monster borne of the Magical Girl's pain and suffering seeks to spread it, just as Magical Girls spead light and hope. Witchs exist only as a spirit, and even then they are behind a barrier.
Maxing your Corruption Meter instantly makes you into a Giant Witch. GWs are berserkers or something, their behavior hasn't been discussed here, beyond evil Hulk Smash., with their MG selves powers I'm guessing. This part needs expansion. By collecting Greif Seeds, the SG of those gone GW, you can dump your build up C from your SG to a GS. Extra capacity of the GS is added to yours when you do this, which new posts have said grants your SG more total capacity for C. I'm unclear on that point. Leaving a GS charged with C around will cause it to respawn into a GW.
Witches can mark vulnerable people (ones who are prone to depression or anger -- hospitals are fertile ground, for example), and influence them to suicide and murder, which empowers them. If they can gain enough power, they can spawn a Familiar. These familiars are weak reflections of the witch, but they can do the same. If they collect enough power, they can become a copy of the spawning witch, and create more familiars themselves. (Rather like an uncurable plague, if unchecked.)
It's a completely viable (and common!) tactic for a Magical Girl to farm Familiars for Grief Seeds. Sayaka's refusal to do this hurries her demise.
The witch's barrier has Empathic Terrain which reflects both the nature of the witch, and the outside world where the witch is at the moment. Anyone else inside the barrier can slightly affect the surroundings but the effect is subtle at best.
If a magical girl defeats a witch (one with enough power) a Grief Seed is dropped. This Grief Seed is what can absorb the corruption of the Magical Girls. Apparently, (as in it's been discussed, but not shown) have a Grief Seed absorb too much corruption will re-spawn it. If a Magical Girl's Soul Gem breaks (from physical damage, instead of corruption), she dies without turning into a Witch (this is the only proven method to accomplish this so far, with 2 episodes left to go).
Edit: I almost forgot. Mami's wish (to live) gives her exceptional resistance to corruption. Enough that being lonely and depressed didn't darken her Soul Gem, and she's not focused on Grief Seeds, but rather defeating the witches. And she's been at it for a while--several months at least. All of this being said, her gem still darkens after using magic, and in no timeline did she survive Walpurgis Night (but that was due to battle damage, not corruption).