Okay so I want to ramble a bit about one of my favorite Yugioh card archetypes, the Witchcrafters. The wacky troupe of spellcaster craftswomen of the Endymion/Magical Nations card lore storyline. Or as I like to call them; Rilliona/Madame Verre and her three weed-smoking girlfriends, three adopted daughters, and her fairy-god-sugar-mommy (Nin)Aruru.
We take magic commissions.
Specifically, I’d like to talk about how the Witchcrafters subtly, yet conspicuously seem to be MISSING a member.
See, here are the seven main Witchcrafters that all seem to be around. Genni, Potterie, Pittore, Schmietta, Edel, Haine and Verre. Now, looking at these seven cards you may have already noticed an odd absence. All of the Witchcrafters each go from Levels One through Eight, yet for some reason there is no level six Witchcrafter. Not only that, you may have also noticed a trend among the girls’ attributes: Each of the four low-level Witchcrafters cover WIND, EARTH, WATER and FIRE, yet the high-level Witchcrafters have two LIGHT monsters, but only one DARK.
And if all that weren’t enough, Witchcrafter Vice-Madame, Haine’s upgraded retrain/leadership polycule with Genni and Edel that she formed after Verre fucked off and left her in charge (long story), has an effect that specifically checks for ‘Level 6 or lower Witchcrafters’.
Meaning that there really should be a Level 6 DARK Witchcrafter monster. But for whatever reason, there ISN’T one.
At least, not yet.
So I thought I’d do a bit of theorizing on just who this missing Witchcrafter may have been, or even might be.
Because I think it could be that our missing Witchcrafter is a woman who hasn’t actually JOINED the Witchcrafters just yet.
Meet Tempest Magician (aka, Magical Exempler after getting a powerup doing… something with Nights End Sorcerer to get his scythe)
Not only does she meet all our requirements in being a Level 6 DARK Spellcaster, but she ALSO just so happens to be part of the same setting. Specifically she seems to be a follower/employee/minion of Endymion, given her use of spell-counters (and a few other connections we will see in a little bit).
As to how and WHY she might join the Witchcrafters, well that requires us to go on a classic Yugioh card lore dive of looking through a few otherwise unrelated cards to tease out story:
First, we have the card ‘Endymion’s Lab’ (incidentally indicating Tempest’s association with Endymion), showing Tempest, along with Magidog and Magicat seeming to be preparing for some kind of experiment or ritual, while Alchemist of Black Spells observes ominously from behind a window.
And in ‘That Wacky Magic!’, we see that this ritual seems to have gone very, VERY wrong for Tempest Magician.
To the point that in ‘That Wacky Alchemy!’, Alchemist of Black Spells has to step in and shut everything down.
So here’s my theory: Tempest Magician was a researcher in Endymion’s Magic Citadel, until she made a MAJOR fuck-up that we see here which got her expelled. And after wandering around dejected for a few days/hours/minutes/seconds, she wound up getting taken in/adopted/seduced by Verre to join her wacky little found family. Also, I like to think Magidog and Magicat went with her XD
Now, with one of my two most likely/favorite options out of the way, I thought I’d quickly touch on a few other possibilities:
Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior, Chaos Sorcerer and Dark Red Enchanter all fit the ‘Level 6 DARK Spellcaster’ criteria, but all of them pretty clearly seem to be dudes.
Reaper of Prophecy fits a lot of the criteria and is even confirmed to be part of the Magical Nations setting, but given that they are likewise specifically part of the ‘Prophecy’, aka ‘Spellbook’ and thereby part of the Grand Library of La Maison, it’s kinda hard to imagine her joining up with the Witchcrafters. Particularly given Verre’s albeit lose affiliation with the Library’s sworn enemy Endymion.
And admittedly, if we are going by a purely Doylist or ‘Occhams Razor’ mindset, then our most likely option is probably the character of Seede from the OCG Stories manga’s Magical War Arc, a heretofore unknown Witchcrafter who has featured rather prominently in the last few chapters. Sure, she doesn’t seem to have much of a DARK affiliation right now, being the gardener of the Witchcrafters, but that could very easily change in the future.
Finally, there is the wild and crazy yet somehow still plausible sounding theory for who the missing Witchcrafter might be:
None other than Dark Magician Girl. For one, she does fit all the criteria we've laid out.
Great king governing the magical power of genesis! Release the power sleeping within Endymion!!
The thing to understand here is that the whole Magical Nations setting and Endymion’s Magical Citadel in particular are kind of loaded with subtle nods and references to a number of Yugi’s iconic monsters and ESPECIALLY the Dark Magician.
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A Spell Counter, known as Magical Power Counter (魔（ま）力（りょく）カウンター Maryoku Kauntā) in Japan, is a type of counter used by a variety of cards.
First we have the five ‘Skilled Magicians’, who are not only each tied to Dark Magician, Buster Blader, Gaia the Fierce Knight, Summoned Skull (via the Archfiends) and Kuriboh, but via a few retcons are pretty clearly now meant to be followers of Endymion, given their use of Spell Counters, prominently displaying the ‘Power Stones’ that define Endymion’s spell counters, and their general attire matching many of those under Endymion’s service.
And those ‘Power Stones’ happen to show up on a number of cards affiliated with both Dark Magician and Buster Blader, such as Miracle Restoring and the swords wielded by Blader’s Buster Whelp. Not to mention the fact that the Power Stones themselves look a lot like a silhouette of the Millennium Puzzle…
Finally, there is the fact that Dark Magician’s iconic ‘Dark Magical Circle’ happens to show up all over the damn place on various Endymion cards. Heck, Endymion’s Magical Citadel itself is RINGED by several of those circles.
Oh, and for one final tidbit: the recently released ‘Verre, Maid of Endymion’ card tied into the OCG Stories manga just so happens to search Magical Dimension, one of THE iconic cards Yugi used in conjunction with Dark Magician.
Basically, at this point I think it is very possible, particularly with all the focus that the Magical Nations setting is getting in both the OCG Stories manga and future Chronicles shorts, that it will be revealed that Dark Magician was at one time a close associate of Endymion. Likely being heavily involved in the creation of the Magical Citadel and maybe even involved in the creation of Endymion’s Spell Counter system and Power Stones.
So with all that in mind, if Dark Magician happened to be spending a few years hanging around this developing hub of magical knowledge, then I’d say it would be hardly surprising if Dark Magician Girl happened to likewise spend that time hanging out with a troupe of fellow witches.
And was maybe banging Verre and Genni XD
