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Caligo Sayaka Progress
>PLAYER
NAME/HANDLE: Seve
PERSONAL JOURNAL: unlosing
ARE YOU OVER 16? Have been since 2006!
CONTACT: aim: lagann impact / plurk: unlosing
OTHER CHARACTERS: Also applying for Yukiteru from Mirai Nikki.
>CHARACTER
CHARACTER NAME: Sayaka Miki
SERIES: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
- Series Description
- Character Reference
CANON POINT: Shortly after her encounter with Homura and Kyouko in Episode 8
APPEARANCE: Sayaka Gallery @ Puella Magi Wiki
PERSONALITY:
Initially, Sayaka comes off as something of a happy tomboy - the genki girl we all know and love, or wish we did. The least girlish of her friends, she's the first to run into danger, to yell when something upsets or surprises her, to be dramatic and to tease, and so on. In fact, perhaps dramatic is an understatement - she was an active girl with a vibrant personality (when trying to pinpoint the mystery of a transfer student, she made grand hand gestures and cried out "Is this moe!?" before collapsing on the table she was sitting at) who seemed to just want to have fun. Despite this, even before things get serious, she shows in various occasions that cares deeply for each and every one of her friends, and has no problems getting down to business if it meant she could protect them.
Of course, there was more to Sayaka than just being a happy-go-lucky tomboy. One of the defining parts of her character are her feelings for Kyosuke Kamijou, a childhood friend of hers who had been hospitalized due to an accident. Though it isn't clear when she developed these feelings, it's clear she's known him since she was a little girl and stayed by him since as best she could. Thus, when she's not being a tomboy and palling around with her friends, we see a completely different side of Sayaka; one who's grown to love classical music through feelings for a boy, a gentle girl trying to care for her crush. It's almost serene, and it's a side of hers she apparently tends to keep to herself, as only one person seems to actively know about her regular visits to the hospital before she wishes for her friend to recover.
Lastly, though it isn't the most prominent part of Sayaka's personality in some timelines, thanks to the influence of and impact that Mami had on her, Sayaka developed a a strong sense of morals and justice. While she had always been a "good" person, her belief became that Mami was the only "good" Puella Magi (compared to the "bad" Kyouko and Homura), and that she wanted to strive to live up to the late Mami's example. People should be protected, bad people should be stopped, evil monsters should be killed, and so on. Therefore, when she does turn into a Puella Magi, initially, this is shown on much higher levels when she comes face to face with someone with views completely opposite to hers - namely, Kyouko. They get into fights, despite technically being on the same "side", and it almost gets to the point where it becomes a fight to the death before it gets interrupted. When push comes to shove, to "protect," Sayaka is willing to kill.
Another thing this shows about Sayaka is that she tends to jump to conclusions. Indeed, one can easily make the point that it was very easy for her to jump to some of the conclusions that she did - no one was handing out explanations after all - but the fact remains that Sayaka convinced herself of the negative of some people in order to operate. Given what she was told about Homura from Mami, for instance, when Homura shows up moments after Mami dies to take the kill, Sayaka assumes Homura was lying in wait for Mami to die (leading to further misunderstandings between the two) - from her perspective, this view is justified... but it's also completely incorrect. This is shown in another, earlier timeline, in which Sayaka is the first to call out Homura's accusations towards Kyubey, their "fairy godmother" in essense (as well as complain about her actions, now that she's found the girl untrustworthy - a danger to her friends), and ultimately is also usually the first, or even the only one, to succumb to her emotions and become a witch.
Regardless, Sayaka's "heroic" state of mind isn't given much of a chance to last. When Sayaka learns she's essentially a "zombie" - that she's no more than a little rock operating her former body - little by little, she starts to fall apart. She starts feeling isolated, and what we used to see of her bright, shining and energetic ready-to-go personality becomes more of a mask as time goes on, covering up how she's really feeling inside. She begins to realize she's alone, that she's a zombie, that she's not really a hero, just "paying for what she wished for", and her grip on reality starts to break up little by little.
Though many might not see anything wrong with their soul not being in their body anymore (the other girl, whom Sayaka fought with over morals and ideals, seems to take this stance - other girls seem to take similar views in alternate timelines), Sayaka can't handle the fact that she isn't "her" anymore. She's a rock, a "zombie" as she began to describe herself. This body, this body that wasn't hers, wasn't one she could truly love someone with. She couldn't hug anyone or kiss anyone like that - not really. So she forced herself, no matter how badly it hurt and no matter how much she wished she didn't have to, to give up on Kyosuke.
That decision was probably the final straw.
Shortly after, Sayaka began slipping further and further away from her former self. She begins to chase witches with no regard to herself. After all, she can't feel pain, so what does it matter if she gets hurt? It'll get better. Her body doesn't matter anyway - she's a zombie, after all. She begins fighting with a new mindset - that once her Soul Gem becomes completely corrupt, her fight will be over, and she will die. Until then, she will be a "new" kind of Puella Magi, one that isn't cruel and selfish, like Kyouko and Homura.
Of course, seeing as her Soul Gem is her soul, the more and more corrupt it gets, the more it has to change her mental state. But even so, these things never crossed her mind - she wanted to be a different magical girl, one that never used magic for herself. She would kill all of the witches she could until her time was up, and that would be that. It would be easy.
ABILITIES:
Sayaka is a Puella Magi, so before we get into things that are specific to her, being one of those already grants her some fancy abilities.
First and foremost, a Puella Magi isn't really connected to their body, but rather, their Soul Gem which houses their soul. They have to keep within a 100 meter distance of their body in order to maintain control over it, otherwise their body will "die" as the true girl (the Soul Gem) is too far away from her body. This sounds scary, but with this comes its advantages. With her "body" as it is, she can take a lot more pain without really feeling it - in fact, even if her body is killed, so long as her Soul Gem remains, she can still live on and have her body be repaired for future use.
Now that we've covered the basics, let's get to specifics: As far as weapons go, Sayaka specializes in swords. She can summon at them at will, and she seems to have a limitless supply as well. Be it for hand-to-hand combat, to slice foes and cut them to bits, or just to throw them away at long-range targets or simply because she has more in wait, the fact of the matter is that Sayaka is covered when it comes to having backup swords. It's also been written in suplemental material that her swords contain a variety of other abilities, but given the problems Sayaka faced so early in her Puella Magi career, it seems like she wasn't ever able to discover them - at least not in the main timeline.
Beyond those powers, however, Sayaka has an even more unique ability in that, due to the nature of her wish, she gained near-instant regeneration of her wounds, be they life threatening or just scrapes and bruises. As her body begins to heal itself, healing circles of musical notes and magic runes cover the wounded area, and once they're gone, it's as if the area they healed was never hurt to begin with. Combining this with the fact that, if she focuses it, she can stop herself from feeling pain, and you have quite the weapon on your hands.
All of this, of course, does drain from her magic reserves somewhat, especially so when fighting witches. It's how the Soul Gems corrupt in the first place after all.
POSSESSIONS: Sayaka won't have much on her person - aside from her clothes, some money, and a cell phone (the basics for your average Japanese youth), everything else important she would have on her is "stored" in her Soul Gem (Puella Magi clothing, weapons, and so on) which is now little more than a trinket.
>PERSONA
MAJOR ARCANA:
Listed with various reasons in no particular order:
The Fool: The Fool symbolizes things such as spontaniety, belief, and folly - things that fit Sayaka to a T in some cases. When she makes a decision, she sticks with it to the end (quite literally - it's only as she's "dying" that she realizes she's been a fool), and she follows her beliefs in this timelines like a woman possessed at some points. The Fool also symbolizes the taking of a journey, and Sayaka definitely goes through a journey of character throughout the series, from simple, innocent schoolgirl, to jaded and wounded Puella Magi as she's brought to Inaba.
The Lovers: The Lovers symbolize a relationship, and Sayaka's relationship with Kyosuke is one of the key parts of her character, not to mention her guiding light and what inspires her to act on more than one occasion. The Lovers also symbolize personal beliefs and values, and these are two of Sayaka's most impotant traits, as she spends the majority of the series (after become a Puella Magi) battling Kyouko, as well as Homura and even Madoka, over ideals, values, and personal beliefs. It's her sense of ideals that eventually inspire Kyouko to return to the girl who Kyouko used to be, even though at that point Sayaka has already "died" and become a witch.
The Hermit: As the good times come to an end (good is used lightly here), Sayaka starts resembling The Hermit more and more. She becomes more introspective, questioning her ideals and what she's been fighting for - even her very existence - not to mention solitary. She alienates herself from not only her enemies, but even those she cares about most (Madoka and Kyosuke) in order to keep them out of things. She seeks guidance from her deceased "idol," Mami, but ultimately just wanders as she tries to fight for her ideals - her justice - and is from that point onward alone until her corruption.
The Wheel of Fortune: Sayaka fits this Arcana in a variety of ways; in some ways, the Wheel of Fortune represents her progress throughout the series. She starts off faced with opportunity, possibility, and a turning point in her life - to make a wish and become a magical girl, what to wish for, and the battles that would follow. The wheel turns, things develop, and surprise after surprise is thrust upon her (Mami's death, the "truth" of Puella magi, and so on), and sudden events change her life drastically. Her approachability staggers, and and she begins to dissent from the group, her friends, and even her former self.
The Devil: Parts of Sayaka fit The Devil in that it fits many negative aspects of her personality that the other Arcana don't touch as well. In hopelessness, there's her doubt - doubting her ideals, doubting herself, doubting her friends, as well as how she'll believe the worst about people (Kyouko and Homura are prime examples) with only little evidence to back it up. There's the hopelessness of being a Puella Magi as well as her situation with Kyosuke, as well as her bondage, her being chained to her Soul Gem and duties as a Puella Magi - as if she's trapped, almost. She must accept this unwanted situation because she, quite literally, made a "deal with the devil" and gave up her independance. In regards to the "ignorance" of the devil, Sayaka is often unaware of various things going on around her, be it the real reasons for Homura's absense during the fight with Charlotte to Homura and Kyouko's various reasons for being the way they are, among other things. She often experiences her limits as the series goes on, and her portion of it comes to a close, at which point she is faced with being a new Puella Magi compared to the stronger, more experienced Kyouko and Homura.
SHADOW:
Initially, Sayaka's Shadow appears to be more like the "original" Sayaka - that is, Sayaka before she became a Puella Magi. A typical, happy schoolgirl, without a care in the world. However, the Shadow's personality soon changes as it's confronted - it becomes flippant, disregarding the hard decisions Sayaka has made as things that were done because a foolish girl with a crush didn't know better, and now she was paying the price. She brutally attacks Sayaka's morals (using the reasons mentioned in the Justice section above), calling her a cheap fraud, that she's a disgrace to Mami's name, and so on.
Sayaka's Shadow would also go on to mock her relationship with Kyosuke, how if she really loved him, she would have made a better wish, one that would definitely made Kyosuke hers. She didn't really care about Kyosuke's music. The Shadow would go on to mention how Sayaka had, at a point, thought about letting a friend of hers die, because said friend had expressed interest in Kyosuke after his recovery.
If this wasn't enough, the Shadow would finally get into the more serious issues of being a Puella Magi - attacking Sayaka for failing to wish in time to save Mami, failing to join forces with the other girls, failing her town, failing Mami's memory, failing Kyosuke, failing her false ideals, failing her last and only friend, and overall, for being a failure as essentially everything other than a foolish, lovesick schoolgirl. It is at this point that Sayaka would cry out in denial of these things and the Shadow would transform.
The dungeon in which Sayaka's Shadow resides is, essentially the same as her witch's maze. A large, magnificent concert hall, the lower areas leading to it being fantastic hallways and staircases, with markings scratched onto the floors and walls ("LOVE ME DO" and such) along with posters of violin performances of Kyosuke. Upon arriving to the concert hall itself, where Sayaka's Shadow awaits, one finds a large room, not unlike a train station (portraying Sayaka's desire to leave "where she is" - in other words, the life she has now) where the concert would be performed, with Sayaka's Shadow on center stage. In the background, shadow images of Kyosuke can be found, performing classical music that Sayaka grew to love through him.
Upon transforming, Sayaka's Shadow is, in essence, Oktavia von Seckendorff, otherwise known as herself upon becoming corrupt to the point of transforming into a witch. As a boss, it would fight by unleashing her fists, sword, and floating cogs that surround her, not using any elements to speak of, but being capable of minor healing skills as Sayaka herself was.
PERSONA:
Initial Persona: Melusine -> Final Persona: Ningyo-hime
MELUSINE
Visually, Melusine would appear more like Oktavia than some (notably any castmate of Sayaka's that might have faced the witch) would probably like to admit, but more humanoid/SMT-ified. Fitting the lore of Melusine, as well as Sayaka herself, from the waist down she would have a mermaid's tail, albeit a more dangerous, demonic one that many would come to expect from a mermaid. From the waist up, on te other hand, Melusine would appear as a more knightly being - adorned in armor with a crown and such. However, fitting with Sayaka's instability (as this is her "initial" Persona) along with the things she is facing in her life, the armor would be spiked and dragonic, also fitting the dragonic/serpentine parts of the Melusine - to that end, Melusine's gauntlets would be large and clawed. Her sword, on the other hand (and to contradict the entire appearance of the Persona - but to represent what Sayaka still is deep down; to represent her still good heart) a holy looking sword, with a hilt adorned with a musical note and jewels.
NINGYO-HIME
Visually, Ningyo-hime would appear much less brutal and dragonic than Melusine, but still mermaid in origin. She is more maidenly in appearance, and her armor is much more regal looking, knightly, than her previous form's armor. She does not wear a crown as Melusine did, instead she lets her hair fall free, with various musical notes of various size decorating her hair like ornaments. Her chainmail would have a teardrop pattern, representing both Sayaka and the mermaid's tears, but on top of that, the armor itself would be split in two (the chest plate - with each side of the armor, from center of the chest to hand, sticking with the theme) representing Sayaka's double life as well as the mermaid's splitting her tail in half to become a human. The armor is "stiched" together with musical circles, one half of the armor appearing rougher, angrier, more violent, while the other seemingly more heroic and peaceful, like the way Sayaka was in the beginning. Her tail would be the thing of beauty here, nothing monstrous about it, and as Sayaka's heart is much more visible in this form, Ningyo-hime's sword is less holy looking than Melusine's was, but still as just and fitting all the same.
SKILLSET
Weak: Dark | Resist: Light
LOW TIER
Cleave - 10% HP - Inflicts a small amount of slash damage to an enemy. (Innate)
Dia - 4 SP - Recovers a small amount of HP to one ally. Can be used in the field. (Innate)
Evil Touch - 5SP - 25% chance of inflicting the Fear ailment to one enemy. (Innate)
Rakukaja - 6SP - Raises one ally's Defense for 3 turns.
Cruel Attack - 14% HP - Inflicts a moderate amount of Pierce damage to one enemy with even greater power if the target is knocked "Down".
Sukukaja - 6SP - Raises one ally's Agility for 3 turns.
MID TIER
Weary Thrust - 18% HP - Inflicts a large amount of Strike damage with even greater power if you're feeling "Tired" to one enemy.
Diarama - 8SP - Recovers a moderate amount of HP to one ally. Can be used in the field.
Fatal End - 18% HP - Inflicts a moderate amount of Slash damage to one enemy.
Fear Boost - Passive - Fear-based attacks are 1.5 times more effective.
Rebellion - 5SP - Increases all allies' and enemies' Critical rate for 3 turns.
Regenerate 2 - Passive - Restore 10% HP on each turn, except for "1 More".
Blade of Fury - 22% HP - Inflicts a moderate amount of Slash damage up to 3 times to all enemies.
Masukukaja - 12SP - Raises all allies' Agility for 3 turns.
Evil Smile - 10SP - 25% chance of inflicting the Fear ailment to all enemies.
Diarahan - 20SP - Recovers all HP to one ally. Can be used in the field.
Ghastly Wail - 15SP - Instantly kills all targets who are suffering from the Fear ailment (unavoidable).
Marakukaja - 12SP - Raises all allies' Defense for 3 turns.
HIGH TIER
Arms Master - Passive - Halves the HP cost for physical attack skills.
Deathbound - 20% HP - Inflicts a large amount of Slash damage with high odds of Critical to all enemies.
Regenerate 3 - Passive - Restore 15% HP on each turn, except for "1 More".
Pralaya - 25% HP - Inflicts a massive amount of Pierce damage to one enemy with a chance of inflicting the Fear ailment.
Power Charge - 15SP - The next Slash, Strike, Pierce, or Almighty physical attack will be 2.5 times greater in power. Self.
Enduring Soul - Passive - Survive being knocked Unconscious once per battle with all HP restored.
Salvation - 60SP - Recovers all HP to all allies and removes all status ailments from all allies.
Vorpal Blade - 33% HP - Inflicts a massive amount of Slash damage with even greater power if you're feeling "Great" to all enemies.
PERSONA ACQUISTION: Preferred method would be a confrontation with her Shadow, if possible!
>SAMPLES
(For panfandom apps, one of these must be set in the world of Caligo.)
FIRST PERSON ACTION, JOURNAL, OR PHONE SAMPLE:
First person post from way back on dear_mun (on LJ) with a variety of threads! If that does not suffice, however, here is a first person sample in Caligo's setting:
[There's a young girl standing in the shopping district. She's in a school uniform, albeit one not of Inaba, and she seems to just be... standing there. One might think she's window shopping, what with how she's staring so intently in a window, but if you give the girl a second glance, you might realize she's not looking at any item in particular. The store is, you see, vacant, and most of the windows are boarded up.]
... Too bad. I was hoping I might be able to listen to something before I found a place to sleep.
[The sign atop the vacant shop, almost hanging off, shows that the store specialized in classical music. Like many others in this small town, Junes, supermarket giant that it is, ran the little shop out of business and into the ground. The girl, however, knew none of this. She simply saw the abandoned instruments in the window, the worn out paintings and pictures of musical notes... The love that must have gone into this store before it closed. It resonates within her.]
It's kind of nostalgic. No, it's more ironic. [she pauses, thoughtful, then grins sourly.] That's not right either... Maybe it's more like fate. The one place I might have been able to find some peace in this place... I guess zombies aren't allowed breaks. They just have to keep walking until they finally keel over.
[The girl shakes her head and begins to start walking away, a dark air about her. She laughs.]
Hahaha... No rest for the weary, huh?
THIRD PERSON SAMPLE:
Had she burnt herself out faster than she had expected? She was sure that once she had exhausted her magic, she would have just faded away or something. Looking at things now, though... that wasn't the case. She was sure she had still had had some magic left in her before whatever happened had happened, and she was definitely still here.
... She just wasn't sure where "here" was yet. Sure, she'd seen the signs, overheard from a passerby or two - "Inaba" was where "here" was. It wasn't Mitikahara, and it wasn't anywhere she'd ever heard of before. This place looked like a small town, so Sayaka could expect that she might not know of it, but on the other hand, this was too suspicious.
Was this some new kind of witch trick? Was it a dream? Or something else entirely?
Really though, the more she thought about it... What did it really matter to something like her? She wasn't human anymore. She was just a corpse, held on by a little rock's puppet strings, parading around like one. She just had to kill whatever witch was put in front of her. That was her life now.
Once that was done... She could die. It would finally be over.
She had said horrible things to Madoka. Maybe this was her punishment for doing that. Not only had she had been separated from her last friend, but her escape from this life had been halted without any explanation. Kyubey wasn't here to explain anything either. He was probably back home, bugging Madoka...
For all her lying, and even the attempt on Sayaka's own life, Homura could probably still protect Madoka better than her useless self could.
"... Haha..."
Relying on that Homura? What a day this was...
... She was really all alone now, wasn't she?
Sayaka laughed. She turned her head back, smiling wide, and she laughed and laughed and laughed. She raised an arm to cover her eyes with her sleeve. Not that it mattered if anyone saw her crying anymore.
She was just a corpse, after all.
PERSONAL JOURNAL: unlosing
ARE YOU OVER 16? Have been since 2006!
CONTACT: aim: lagann impact / plurk: unlosing
OTHER CHARACTERS: Also applying for Yukiteru from Mirai Nikki.
>CHARACTER
SERIES: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
- Series Description
- Character Reference
CANON POINT: Shortly after her encounter with Homura and Kyouko in Episode 8
APPEARANCE: Sayaka Gallery @ Puella Magi Wiki
PERSONALITY:
Initially, Sayaka comes off as something of a happy tomboy - the genki girl we all know and love, or wish we did. The least girlish of her friends, she's the first to run into danger, to yell when something upsets or surprises her, to be dramatic and to tease, and so on. In fact, perhaps dramatic is an understatement - she was an active girl with a vibrant personality (when trying to pinpoint the mystery of a transfer student, she made grand hand gestures and cried out "Is this moe!?" before collapsing on the table she was sitting at) who seemed to just want to have fun. Despite this, even before things get serious, she shows in various occasions that cares deeply for each and every one of her friends, and has no problems getting down to business if it meant she could protect them.
Of course, there was more to Sayaka than just being a happy-go-lucky tomboy. One of the defining parts of her character are her feelings for Kyosuke Kamijou, a childhood friend of hers who had been hospitalized due to an accident. Though it isn't clear when she developed these feelings, it's clear she's known him since she was a little girl and stayed by him since as best she could. Thus, when she's not being a tomboy and palling around with her friends, we see a completely different side of Sayaka; one who's grown to love classical music through feelings for a boy, a gentle girl trying to care for her crush. It's almost serene, and it's a side of hers she apparently tends to keep to herself, as only one person seems to actively know about her regular visits to the hospital before she wishes for her friend to recover.
Lastly, though it isn't the most prominent part of Sayaka's personality in some timelines, thanks to the influence of and impact that Mami had on her, Sayaka developed a a strong sense of morals and justice. While she had always been a "good" person, her belief became that Mami was the only "good" Puella Magi (compared to the "bad" Kyouko and Homura), and that she wanted to strive to live up to the late Mami's example. People should be protected, bad people should be stopped, evil monsters should be killed, and so on. Therefore, when she does turn into a Puella Magi, initially, this is shown on much higher levels when she comes face to face with someone with views completely opposite to hers - namely, Kyouko. They get into fights, despite technically being on the same "side", and it almost gets to the point where it becomes a fight to the death before it gets interrupted. When push comes to shove, to "protect," Sayaka is willing to kill.
Another thing this shows about Sayaka is that she tends to jump to conclusions. Indeed, one can easily make the point that it was very easy for her to jump to some of the conclusions that she did - no one was handing out explanations after all - but the fact remains that Sayaka convinced herself of the negative of some people in order to operate. Given what she was told about Homura from Mami, for instance, when Homura shows up moments after Mami dies to take the kill, Sayaka assumes Homura was lying in wait for Mami to die (leading to further misunderstandings between the two) - from her perspective, this view is justified... but it's also completely incorrect. This is shown in another, earlier timeline, in which Sayaka is the first to call out Homura's accusations towards Kyubey, their "fairy godmother" in essense (as well as complain about her actions, now that she's found the girl untrustworthy - a danger to her friends), and ultimately is also usually the first, or even the only one, to succumb to her emotions and become a witch.
Regardless, Sayaka's "heroic" state of mind isn't given much of a chance to last. When Sayaka learns she's essentially a "zombie" - that she's no more than a little rock operating her former body - little by little, she starts to fall apart. She starts feeling isolated, and what we used to see of her bright, shining and energetic ready-to-go personality becomes more of a mask as time goes on, covering up how she's really feeling inside. She begins to realize she's alone, that she's a zombie, that she's not really a hero, just "paying for what she wished for", and her grip on reality starts to break up little by little.
Though many might not see anything wrong with their soul not being in their body anymore (the other girl, whom Sayaka fought with over morals and ideals, seems to take this stance - other girls seem to take similar views in alternate timelines), Sayaka can't handle the fact that she isn't "her" anymore. She's a rock, a "zombie" as she began to describe herself. This body, this body that wasn't hers, wasn't one she could truly love someone with. She couldn't hug anyone or kiss anyone like that - not really. So she forced herself, no matter how badly it hurt and no matter how much she wished she didn't have to, to give up on Kyosuke.
That decision was probably the final straw.
Shortly after, Sayaka began slipping further and further away from her former self. She begins to chase witches with no regard to herself. After all, she can't feel pain, so what does it matter if she gets hurt? It'll get better. Her body doesn't matter anyway - she's a zombie, after all. She begins fighting with a new mindset - that once her Soul Gem becomes completely corrupt, her fight will be over, and she will die. Until then, she will be a "new" kind of Puella Magi, one that isn't cruel and selfish, like Kyouko and Homura.
Of course, seeing as her Soul Gem is her soul, the more and more corrupt it gets, the more it has to change her mental state. But even so, these things never crossed her mind - she wanted to be a different magical girl, one that never used magic for herself. She would kill all of the witches she could until her time was up, and that would be that. It would be easy.
ABILITIES:
Sayaka is a Puella Magi, so before we get into things that are specific to her, being one of those already grants her some fancy abilities.
First and foremost, a Puella Magi isn't really connected to their body, but rather, their Soul Gem which houses their soul. They have to keep within a 100 meter distance of their body in order to maintain control over it, otherwise their body will "die" as the true girl (the Soul Gem) is too far away from her body. This sounds scary, but with this comes its advantages. With her "body" as it is, she can take a lot more pain without really feeling it - in fact, even if her body is killed, so long as her Soul Gem remains, she can still live on and have her body be repaired for future use.
Now that we've covered the basics, let's get to specifics: As far as weapons go, Sayaka specializes in swords. She can summon at them at will, and she seems to have a limitless supply as well. Be it for hand-to-hand combat, to slice foes and cut them to bits, or just to throw them away at long-range targets or simply because she has more in wait, the fact of the matter is that Sayaka is covered when it comes to having backup swords. It's also been written in suplemental material that her swords contain a variety of other abilities, but given the problems Sayaka faced so early in her Puella Magi career, it seems like she wasn't ever able to discover them - at least not in the main timeline.
Beyond those powers, however, Sayaka has an even more unique ability in that, due to the nature of her wish, she gained near-instant regeneration of her wounds, be they life threatening or just scrapes and bruises. As her body begins to heal itself, healing circles of musical notes and magic runes cover the wounded area, and once they're gone, it's as if the area they healed was never hurt to begin with. Combining this with the fact that, if she focuses it, she can stop herself from feeling pain, and you have quite the weapon on your hands.
All of this, of course, does drain from her magic reserves somewhat, especially so when fighting witches. It's how the Soul Gems corrupt in the first place after all.
POSSESSIONS: Sayaka won't have much on her person - aside from her clothes, some money, and a cell phone (the basics for your average Japanese youth), everything else important she would have on her is "stored" in her Soul Gem (Puella Magi clothing, weapons, and so on) which is now little more than a trinket.
>PERSONA
Listed with various reasons in no particular order:
The Fool: The Fool symbolizes things such as spontaniety, belief, and folly - things that fit Sayaka to a T in some cases. When she makes a decision, she sticks with it to the end (quite literally - it's only as she's "dying" that she realizes she's been a fool), and she follows her beliefs in this timelines like a woman possessed at some points. The Fool also symbolizes the taking of a journey, and Sayaka definitely goes through a journey of character throughout the series, from simple, innocent schoolgirl, to jaded and wounded Puella Magi as she's brought to Inaba.
The Lovers: The Lovers symbolize a relationship, and Sayaka's relationship with Kyosuke is one of the key parts of her character, not to mention her guiding light and what inspires her to act on more than one occasion. The Lovers also symbolize personal beliefs and values, and these are two of Sayaka's most impotant traits, as she spends the majority of the series (after become a Puella Magi) battling Kyouko, as well as Homura and even Madoka, over ideals, values, and personal beliefs. It's her sense of ideals that eventually inspire Kyouko to return to the girl who Kyouko used to be, even though at that point Sayaka has already "died" and become a witch.
The Hermit: As the good times come to an end (good is used lightly here), Sayaka starts resembling The Hermit more and more. She becomes more introspective, questioning her ideals and what she's been fighting for - even her very existence - not to mention solitary. She alienates herself from not only her enemies, but even those she cares about most (Madoka and Kyosuke) in order to keep them out of things. She seeks guidance from her deceased "idol," Mami, but ultimately just wanders as she tries to fight for her ideals - her justice - and is from that point onward alone until her corruption.
The Wheel of Fortune: Sayaka fits this Arcana in a variety of ways; in some ways, the Wheel of Fortune represents her progress throughout the series. She starts off faced with opportunity, possibility, and a turning point in her life - to make a wish and become a magical girl, what to wish for, and the battles that would follow. The wheel turns, things develop, and surprise after surprise is thrust upon her (Mami's death, the "truth" of Puella magi, and so on), and sudden events change her life drastically. Her approachability staggers, and and she begins to dissent from the group, her friends, and even her former self.
The Devil: Parts of Sayaka fit The Devil in that it fits many negative aspects of her personality that the other Arcana don't touch as well. In hopelessness, there's her doubt - doubting her ideals, doubting herself, doubting her friends, as well as how she'll believe the worst about people (Kyouko and Homura are prime examples) with only little evidence to back it up. There's the hopelessness of being a Puella Magi as well as her situation with Kyosuke, as well as her bondage, her being chained to her Soul Gem and duties as a Puella Magi - as if she's trapped, almost. She must accept this unwanted situation because she, quite literally, made a "deal with the devil" and gave up her independance. In regards to the "ignorance" of the devil, Sayaka is often unaware of various things going on around her, be it the real reasons for Homura's absense during the fight with Charlotte to Homura and Kyouko's various reasons for being the way they are, among other things. She often experiences her limits as the series goes on, and her portion of it comes to a close, at which point she is faced with being a new Puella Magi compared to the stronger, more experienced Kyouko and Homura.
SHADOW:
Initially, Sayaka's Shadow appears to be more like the "original" Sayaka - that is, Sayaka before she became a Puella Magi. A typical, happy schoolgirl, without a care in the world. However, the Shadow's personality soon changes as it's confronted - it becomes flippant, disregarding the hard decisions Sayaka has made as things that were done because a foolish girl with a crush didn't know better, and now she was paying the price. She brutally attacks Sayaka's morals (using the reasons mentioned in the Justice section above), calling her a cheap fraud, that she's a disgrace to Mami's name, and so on.
Sayaka's Shadow would also go on to mock her relationship with Kyosuke, how if she really loved him, she would have made a better wish, one that would definitely made Kyosuke hers. She didn't really care about Kyosuke's music. The Shadow would go on to mention how Sayaka had, at a point, thought about letting a friend of hers die, because said friend had expressed interest in Kyosuke after his recovery.
If this wasn't enough, the Shadow would finally get into the more serious issues of being a Puella Magi - attacking Sayaka for failing to wish in time to save Mami, failing to join forces with the other girls, failing her town, failing Mami's memory, failing Kyosuke, failing her false ideals, failing her last and only friend, and overall, for being a failure as essentially everything other than a foolish, lovesick schoolgirl. It is at this point that Sayaka would cry out in denial of these things and the Shadow would transform.
The dungeon in which Sayaka's Shadow resides is, essentially the same as her witch's maze. A large, magnificent concert hall, the lower areas leading to it being fantastic hallways and staircases, with markings scratched onto the floors and walls ("LOVE ME DO" and such) along with posters of violin performances of Kyosuke. Upon arriving to the concert hall itself, where Sayaka's Shadow awaits, one finds a large room, not unlike a train station (portraying Sayaka's desire to leave "where she is" - in other words, the life she has now) where the concert would be performed, with Sayaka's Shadow on center stage. In the background, shadow images of Kyosuke can be found, performing classical music that Sayaka grew to love through him.
Upon transforming, Sayaka's Shadow is, in essence, Oktavia von Seckendorff, otherwise known as herself upon becoming corrupt to the point of transforming into a witch. As a boss, it would fight by unleashing her fists, sword, and floating cogs that surround her, not using any elements to speak of, but being capable of minor healing skills as Sayaka herself was.
PERSONA:
Initial Persona: Melusine -> Final Persona: Ningyo-hime
MELUSINE
Visually, Melusine would appear more like Oktavia than some (notably any castmate of Sayaka's that might have faced the witch) would probably like to admit, but more humanoid/SMT-ified. Fitting the lore of Melusine, as well as Sayaka herself, from the waist down she would have a mermaid's tail, albeit a more dangerous, demonic one that many would come to expect from a mermaid. From the waist up, on te other hand, Melusine would appear as a more knightly being - adorned in armor with a crown and such. However, fitting with Sayaka's instability (as this is her "initial" Persona) along with the things she is facing in her life, the armor would be spiked and dragonic, also fitting the dragonic/serpentine parts of the Melusine - to that end, Melusine's gauntlets would be large and clawed. Her sword, on the other hand (and to contradict the entire appearance of the Persona - but to represent what Sayaka still is deep down; to represent her still good heart) a holy looking sword, with a hilt adorned with a musical note and jewels.
NINGYO-HIME
Visually, Ningyo-hime would appear much less brutal and dragonic than Melusine, but still mermaid in origin. She is more maidenly in appearance, and her armor is much more regal looking, knightly, than her previous form's armor. She does not wear a crown as Melusine did, instead she lets her hair fall free, with various musical notes of various size decorating her hair like ornaments. Her chainmail would have a teardrop pattern, representing both Sayaka and the mermaid's tears, but on top of that, the armor itself would be split in two (the chest plate - with each side of the armor, from center of the chest to hand, sticking with the theme) representing Sayaka's double life as well as the mermaid's splitting her tail in half to become a human. The armor is "stiched" together with musical circles, one half of the armor appearing rougher, angrier, more violent, while the other seemingly more heroic and peaceful, like the way Sayaka was in the beginning. Her tail would be the thing of beauty here, nothing monstrous about it, and as Sayaka's heart is much more visible in this form, Ningyo-hime's sword is less holy looking than Melusine's was, but still as just and fitting all the same.
SKILLSET
Weak: Dark | Resist: Light
LOW TIER
Cleave - 10% HP - Inflicts a small amount of slash damage to an enemy. (Innate)
Dia - 4 SP - Recovers a small amount of HP to one ally. Can be used in the field. (Innate)
Evil Touch - 5SP - 25% chance of inflicting the Fear ailment to one enemy. (Innate)
Rakukaja - 6SP - Raises one ally's Defense for 3 turns.
Cruel Attack - 14% HP - Inflicts a moderate amount of Pierce damage to one enemy with even greater power if the target is knocked "Down".
Sukukaja - 6SP - Raises one ally's Agility for 3 turns.
MID TIER
Weary Thrust - 18% HP - Inflicts a large amount of Strike damage with even greater power if you're feeling "Tired" to one enemy.
Diarama - 8SP - Recovers a moderate amount of HP to one ally. Can be used in the field.
Fatal End - 18% HP - Inflicts a moderate amount of Slash damage to one enemy.
Fear Boost - Passive - Fear-based attacks are 1.5 times more effective.
Rebellion - 5SP - Increases all allies' and enemies' Critical rate for 3 turns.
Regenerate 2 - Passive - Restore 10% HP on each turn, except for "1 More".
Blade of Fury - 22% HP - Inflicts a moderate amount of Slash damage up to 3 times to all enemies.
Masukukaja - 12SP - Raises all allies' Agility for 3 turns.
Evil Smile - 10SP - 25% chance of inflicting the Fear ailment to all enemies.
Diarahan - 20SP - Recovers all HP to one ally. Can be used in the field.
Ghastly Wail - 15SP - Instantly kills all targets who are suffering from the Fear ailment (unavoidable).
Marakukaja - 12SP - Raises all allies' Defense for 3 turns.
HIGH TIER
Arms Master - Passive - Halves the HP cost for physical attack skills.
Deathbound - 20% HP - Inflicts a large amount of Slash damage with high odds of Critical to all enemies.
Regenerate 3 - Passive - Restore 15% HP on each turn, except for "1 More".
Pralaya - 25% HP - Inflicts a massive amount of Pierce damage to one enemy with a chance of inflicting the Fear ailment.
Power Charge - 15SP - The next Slash, Strike, Pierce, or Almighty physical attack will be 2.5 times greater in power. Self.
Enduring Soul - Passive - Survive being knocked Unconscious once per battle with all HP restored.
Salvation - 60SP - Recovers all HP to all allies and removes all status ailments from all allies.
Vorpal Blade - 33% HP - Inflicts a massive amount of Slash damage with even greater power if you're feeling "Great" to all enemies.
PERSONA ACQUISTION: Preferred method would be a confrontation with her Shadow, if possible!
>SAMPLES
(For panfandom apps, one of these must be set in the world of Caligo.)
First person post from way back on dear_mun (on LJ) with a variety of threads! If that does not suffice, however, here is a first person sample in Caligo's setting:
[There's a young girl standing in the shopping district. She's in a school uniform, albeit one not of Inaba, and she seems to just be... standing there. One might think she's window shopping, what with how she's staring so intently in a window, but if you give the girl a second glance, you might realize she's not looking at any item in particular. The store is, you see, vacant, and most of the windows are boarded up.]
... Too bad. I was hoping I might be able to listen to something before I found a place to sleep.
[The sign atop the vacant shop, almost hanging off, shows that the store specialized in classical music. Like many others in this small town, Junes, supermarket giant that it is, ran the little shop out of business and into the ground. The girl, however, knew none of this. She simply saw the abandoned instruments in the window, the worn out paintings and pictures of musical notes... The love that must have gone into this store before it closed. It resonates within her.]
It's kind of nostalgic. No, it's more ironic. [she pauses, thoughtful, then grins sourly.] That's not right either... Maybe it's more like fate. The one place I might have been able to find some peace in this place... I guess zombies aren't allowed breaks. They just have to keep walking until they finally keel over.
[The girl shakes her head and begins to start walking away, a dark air about her. She laughs.]
Hahaha... No rest for the weary, huh?
THIRD PERSON SAMPLE:
Had she burnt herself out faster than she had expected? She was sure that once she had exhausted her magic, she would have just faded away or something. Looking at things now, though... that wasn't the case. She was sure she had still had had some magic left in her before whatever happened had happened, and she was definitely still here.
... She just wasn't sure where "here" was yet. Sure, she'd seen the signs, overheard from a passerby or two - "Inaba" was where "here" was. It wasn't Mitikahara, and it wasn't anywhere she'd ever heard of before. This place looked like a small town, so Sayaka could expect that she might not know of it, but on the other hand, this was too suspicious.
Was this some new kind of witch trick? Was it a dream? Or something else entirely?
Really though, the more she thought about it... What did it really matter to something like her? She wasn't human anymore. She was just a corpse, held on by a little rock's puppet strings, parading around like one. She just had to kill whatever witch was put in front of her. That was her life now.
Once that was done... She could die. It would finally be over.
She had said horrible things to Madoka. Maybe this was her punishment for doing that. Not only had she had been separated from her last friend, but her escape from this life had been halted without any explanation. Kyubey wasn't here to explain anything either. He was probably back home, bugging Madoka...
For all her lying, and even the attempt on Sayaka's own life, Homura could probably still protect Madoka better than her useless self could.
"... Haha..."
Relying on that Homura? What a day this was...
... She was really all alone now, wasn't she?
Sayaka laughed. She turned her head back, smiling wide, and she laughed and laughed and laughed. She raised an arm to cover her eyes with her sleeve. Not that it mattered if anyone saw her crying anymore.
She was just a corpse, after all.