Madoka Kaname

Madoka Kaname
Puella Magi Madoka Magica character
Madoka as portrayed in her school uniform in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
Created by	Akiyuki Shinbo, Gen Urobuchi, and Ume Aoki
Voiced by	Aoi Yūki (Japanese), Christine Marie Cabanos (English)

Madoka Kaname (鹿目 まどか, Kaname Madoka^?) is the titular protagonist of the 2011 anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica and its related media. In the anime, she initially lives a normal and happy life, but is then faced with the decision of becoming a magical girl. Created by Akiyuki Shinbo and Gen Urobuchi, and designed by Ume Aoki, the character plays an important role in Madoka Magica media and merchandise.

Madoka is a kind and gentle 14-year-old girl who comes from a loving family. A second-year at middle school, her life changes when she encounters the incubator Kyubey, who offers to transform her into a magical girl. She sees herself as a person without special qualities or talents, and after seeing Mami fighting against witches, aspires to become a magical girl like her. She is a kind and gentle person that is averse to fighting. She hopes that the magical girls will support each other, sometimes even putting her own life at risk to help them. After witnessing Mami's death, she grows uncertain about becoming a magical girl, growing ever more hesitant as the true cost of the role is revealed to her.

In previous timelines, Madoka became a magical girl in a pink dress wielding a rose branch bow and arrow. In the drama CD, "Memories of You", it is revealed that the wish in the first timeline was to save a cat named Amy from death. However, every time, she was either killed or transformed into a witch named Kriemhild Gretchen, the Witch of Salvation, one that became ever more powerful with each time reset, as Madoka's power also increased and if created would, by the end of that same week, consume all life on Earth in order to create a paradise where there is no free will or individuality to cause strife or conflict. In the current timeline before the final episode, Kyubey claims that Madoka has an impossibly large amount of potential for magic, going so far as to claim that she could become god. The reason for this is unclear, since her life so far has been relatively average and free of tragedies. This is later revealed to be due to her accumulated misfortune, which was caused as a result of Homura repeatedly resetting time, with Madoka's fate getting worse with each timeline, making her magic power grow exponentially with each reset. In the first timeline, she still possesses a high amount of power, being able to defeat Walpurgisnacht (ワルプルギスの夜, Warupurugisu no Yoru^?), though dying in the process. Subsequently, by the current timeline, she has the potential to be the most powerful magical girl to date. Towards the end, she learns of this and Homura's efforts to save her.