information;
basics
► name: Kyouko Sakura
► fandom: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
► timeline: Episode 9, before her fight with Oktavia (Languish)
► age: 18, aged up from 15
► gender: Female
out of character
► backtagging: YES, YES, YES. I love backtagging.
► threadhopping: For the most part, I'm totally okay with it, unless it's a serious thread. In which case, just ask.
► subjects to stay away from: Nothing. I'm difficult to offend.
in character
► flirting with this character: Sure! She probably won't flirt back unless she likes you enough, though.
► hugging this character: Go ahead; she'd probably just stand there awkwardly.
► kissing this character: Yes'm, but she might react badly, depending on the person.
► fighting this character: Definitely!
► injuring this character: Go ahead!
► killing this character: Ask first. But, unless they destroy her Soul Gem, she won't actually die.
► using telepathy on this character: Ask first?
► using a potion on this character: Ask first, but chances are I'll be chill with it.
► warnings: Kyouko is a huge bitch and will not hesitate to antagonize people for fun. Though, that's not to say that she isn't capable of caring, because she does want to make friends. She's just... really bad at it.
kinks
► yes: Ageplay, biting, clothed sex, fighting as foreplay, foodplay, in/experienced partners, dub/non-con, vaginal sex, public sex, toys, teasing.
► maybe: full list of kinks here!
► no: Cervical penetration, fisting/gaping, pregnancy, rimming, bathroom stuff.
► orientation: Bisexual, male-leaning (unless your name is Sayaka).
► preferred pairing(s): Anything that makes sense!
stats
► powers/abilities:
As a seasoned Puella Magi, Kyouko is quite skilled in the art of fighting. Her weapon is a long lance with a large pointed spear on the end, and the staff has the ability to separate into segments at will to make it double as a dangerous whip. She also has the ability to create chain barriers that cannot be broken unless she allows it, or she becomes too weak to maintain it.
Because of the nature of a Puella Magi and the Soul Gem-it literally contains their spirit, so that their body is literally nothing but a shell that can be repaired by magic should they receive an injury, no matter how severe-she is nearly invincible. Unless her Soul Gem is destroyed directly, Kyouko cannot die. At the most, her body just needs to rest and recuperate.
Still, if she uses up all of her power, Kyouko will disappear, as seen during her fight with Oktavia. Her ultimate attack is one that ends her; a giant spear, resembling that of a scorpion's tail, rises from the ground and, similar to Mami's Unlimited Musket Works, Kyouko can call many more spears. While it consumes all of her magic, her attack is not in vain. However, because she isn't filled with despair, she does not become a witch and instead simply fades into nothingness.
But, because of her own selfishness, Kyouko is also known to abuse her magic. She uses it to steal food, to get free room and board, and to spy on people by creating a pair of silly looking binoculars.
► fears & weaknesses:
As previously stated, unless Kyouko's Soul Gem is destroyed directly, she cannot die. However, she is still capable of being injured, though her pain tolerance is considerably higher than that of a normal human being as she cannot feel it in the same way that most others do.
Still, being a Puella Magi is a double-edged sword; there is a cost for the ability to use magic. Each time Kyouko uses it, especially during battle, her Soul Gem becomes slightly more tarnished. When a Puella Magi fights a witch and wins, the witch will drop a grief seed, which is then used to purify the Soul Gem. The cleaner one's Soul Gem is, the more magic they possess-and thus, the stronger they will be during battle. Because of Kyouko's selfishness as well as her familiarity with the job, she knows not to fight unless she has to (though she certainly takes joy in fighting), and to only fight witches and not familiars, as familiars do not drop grief seeds. She's willing to sacrifice others, especially if it means she'll be able to harvest grief seeds to keep her Soul Gem pure.
Because of her methods, however, she is considered cruel, and so there are plenty that don't wish to consort with her because of it. That and, because she's so used to being on her own and fending for herself, Kyouko finds it hard to make friends, when that's really one of the things she wants most. It's why she tries so hard to save Sayaka, and later on in another timeline, she actually does manage to become friends with her-only for Sayaka to die again and leave her alone. So, it's not too far-fetched to believe that one of her greatest fears is to be left alone again, especially after her initial wish ended up costing Kyouko her entire family.
► background & personality:
"If you're just living for yourself, it's all up to you. No hard feelings. No regrets. If you think like that, everything's fine."
When Kyouko first appears, she gives off the vibe of someone who is blunt, selfish and uncaring. Though the first two are true, she is actually capable of caring quite a bit for people. She comes into the city after she finds out that Mami died, intent on expanding her witch hunting territory, only to find out that someone else had just made a contract with Kyuubee before she arrived. All she does is chuckle and say that it's not a problem, that all she has to do is remove the competition.
She seems to be different from all of the other Puella Magi because of her apparent unwillingness to work together to take down witches; Kyouko would rather kill another Puella Magi and claim her territory than share. And when she meets Madoka and Sayaka, she chides Sayaka on wasting her magical energy fighting familiars. They aren't witches, so they don't drop grief seeds, which is a waste; they can't purify their own Soul Gems unless they get grief seeds from witches after killing them. Sayaka immediately comes to dislike her because of what she says, because she says that they should wait for a familiar to kill someone so that they can transform into a witch before they go after it.
In reality, of course, Kyouko is simply thinking logically. Sacrifice one and save a hundred. She's been a Puella Magi for a while now and, like Mami, is a veteran. While she thinks that she's simply offering helpful advice, as she knows that fighting familiars uses up magical energy without a way to replenish it, while Madoka and Sayaka find her to be cruel. Of course, while she says that fighting familiars is a waste of time, she does not hesitate to attack Sayaka and attempt to kill her before Homura intervenes.
However, she wasn't always like that, and she isn't cruel. Well, not really. Kyouko doesn't hesitate to follow Sayaka and mock her for her love for Kamijou, which is starting to seem somewhat one-sided. After all, Sayaka became a Puella Magi to save him and he didn't even thank her, doesn't even know she was the reason his arm suddenly got better. Kyouko tells Sayaka that if she really wants Kamijou to be hers and for him to depend on her, that she should go inside and smash his arms and legs. Then he'll be all hers. Hell, she even offers to do it in Sayaka's place.
Kyouko becomes considerably less arrogant after learning the truth about Puella Magi, though. That, unless they kill witches and obtain grief seeds to purify their Soul Gems, they will turn into witches themselves. Not to mention the fact that their Soul Gems are exactly that: their soul, given physical form. While this makes them practically invincible, according to Kyuubee, it also means that they are actually nothing more than zombies. Their bodies can take significant amounts of damage and even be destroyed, but so long as their Soul Gem is in tact, they can remain alive and their bodies can be fixed. It's a truth that Sayaka does not take to well, while Kyouko accepts it with grace-after getting over her initial anger. After all, they were lied to.
Kyouko comes to terms with it quickly and even comes to not mind it. It's the price she paid for the power she received, and without any of this power, she wouldn't have been able to accomplish much of what she'd set out to do. So, she continues on, doing what she's always done. But still, she tries to reach out to Sayaka, especially when she realizes how similar they are. Sayaka is making the exact same mistake that Kyouko made when she first became a Puella Magi; first, she made a wish for someone else, and she was letting herself suffer because of it. Because of Kyouko's own wish for her father, a priest who began to preach unorthodox teachings and lost followers, her entire family was killed by him in a drunken rage, and she was the only survivor. When he learned that she was a Puella Magi, he called her a witch. Ironic, considering she was the one out there, fighting the real witches.
Thus, she makes the decision to use her magic for herself only, and she lives for herself. She is the kind of girl who accepts her mistakes and will take the blame for them instead of trying to put them off on someone else, and is actually quite honest. Though, she does have a tendency to steal food, which is one of the many things that she truly values. As her family ended up quite poor when her father couldn't support them, she hates people who waste food, and is seen eating in just about every scene-including during her battles.
Kyouko thinks that the only person who can truly understand a Puella Magi is another Puella Magi, which may be why she was alone for so long. Sayaka is the first person that she feels any real connection to, and Sayaka is always aloof when Kyouko tries to talk to her. However, as Sayaka continues on her downward spiral, Kyouko's loyalty begins to show more and more. She is actually quite caring, and does her best to help Sayaka, including watching over one of her witch battles and interfering when Sayaka is about to lose. But Sayaka's stubbornness forces her to keep wasting her energy and her Soul Gem becomes increasingly corrupted.
Kyouko is there when Sayaka finally transforms into a witch and witnesses it first hand. She manages to save Sayaka's empty shell of a corpse and teams up with Homura to get out of there so she'll have time to come up with a plan. Even in a hopeless situation, if there's the slightest chance for success, Kyouko will try to find it. She won't give up until she knows for sure that nothing can be done, and she eventually goes to Madoka for help.
She believes in love and courage triumphing over evil, like in the stories she used to always read, and is actually quite the sap. This is one of the main reasons that Kyouko became a Puella Magi to begin with, and she'd forgotten about it until she met Sayaka. So, she comes up with a silly plan: that the voice of her best friend, Madoka, may be enough to get through to Sayaka and maybe, just maybe if Kyouko cuts the witch in half, Sayaka's Soul Gem will fall out instead of a grief seed.
But real life isn't a fairy tale.