A guide to magic and its applications in SW-verse (last updated 2 December 2010)

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Magic Witches ①Inherent abilities
▸Combination of inherent abilities ②Familiars
③Armaments for military Witches Striker Units ①

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MAGIC

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The existence of magic is common knowledge in the setting of SW, a parallel version of Earth. It is shown as a power that manifests itself in a person, in a way akin to qi, spirit, and so on. A possible analogy would be the stuff which fills up your bottom meter as you tap buttons in a fighting game. Magic-users -- Witches -- can employ magic for feats such as flight, forming shields, and strengthening their physical capabilities.

WITCHES

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Magic-users, young females "in general" (while the possibility of male magic-users exists, there are none depicted in canon at the time of this writing). Witches' abilities usually hit a peak during their teenage years, after which they gradually weaken and are lost. As a result, there is a lack of systematic development in the field of magic as a whole. However, Witches are active in areas like healing and the natural sciences.

Military flight witches are also referred to as mechanized air infantrymen (the original term, 機械化航空歩兵, is gender-neutral). The extremely famous are also known by nicknames, which are either their archetypes' nicknames, such as "Star of Africa" Marseille; a genderflipped version thereof, such as "Lady of Libau" Takei; or a reference of some kind, such as "Glamorous Shirley".

Exceptions such as Anna Ferrara or the elder Miyafujis, who can still use magic despite their age, are considered rare.

INHERENT ABILITIES

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Aside from the typical uses of magic as detailed above, some Witches can also use special abilities which are often unique to themselves. Inherent abilities fall under three broad classifications, namely telekinesis, perception, and offensive magic. There is a likelihood of a Witch's ability being related to her personality in some way, if mentions to it in-universe and by Shimada Humikane himself are any indication.

Telekinesis refers to magic which has an effect on other entities. This can be the Witch herself, or another person or object the magic is used on. Examples of telekinesis-type include Shirley's superspeed, Barkhorn's extraordinary strength, Lynette's ballistic stabilization, and Yoshika's healing.

Perception refers to magic which lets the user have a stronger grasp on the surroundings around her. Examples of perception-type include Eila's future premonition, Sakamoto's magic eye, Minna's three-dimensional spatial awareness, and Sanya's control of radio waves for wide-area searches.

Offensive magic is more or less what

COMBINATION OF INHERENT ABILITIES

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Certain inherent abilities can be used in tandem with each other to great effect, though depictions of these in canon have been restricted to combat situations.

Minna's ability (three-dimensional spatial awareness), for instance, can be reinforced by other perception-type abilities if she has physical contact with the other Witch, as shown in Season 1 with Sakamoto and Kimi to Tsunagara Sora with Heidemarie.

FAMILIARS

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In order to have support in strengthening and controlling their magic, the majority of Witches form pacts with animal spirits. When these Witches use their magic, the physical characteristics of their familiars manifest as ears and tails.

According to Shimada Humikane, "Only the Hartmann twins have a change in hair colour rather than growing animals' ears. This is to portray their uniqueness."

STRIKER UNITS

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Devices equipped with magic-fueled engines. Also known as "a kind of magic brooms," possibly a reference to the First Neuroi War and earlier, when Witches really did use brooms. Although these are mainly shown as being worn on Witches' legs, the inside of a Striker Unit leads to another dimension the legs enter, so it isn't actually like some kind of armour. Strikers are powered by their users' own magic, and only a limited number of Witches who have undergone training are capable of using them. When wearing them, a Witch's magical power becomes significantly augmented, and she does not need any further training to be able to use common skills.

Striker Units are based on historical or theoretical aircraft, and this is reflected to a certain extent in their specs and performance within the setting of SW, such as handling and altitude capacity.

VARIATION IN STRIKER UNITS

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Striker Units can be divided into air and land variations, not unlike the division of military forces into that for Air Force and Army. As a result of having to employ different strategies against Neuroi within their respective platforms, there are differences between the manner in which magic output is handled in the respective variations. Air Strikers focus on maximizing flight time, while ground strikers emphasize power and endurance.

What appears to be a propeller at the end of an air Striker Unit is in fact the product of fast, consecutive flight magic reacting with the aether, thereby becoming visible to the naked eye. It does not have an actual physical form and has no adverse effect on the human body. On a typical airplane, fuel nozzles are located close to the exhaust, but Striker Units use magic power as fuel instead. The aether reacts with the magical energy and becomes vapor trails made out of light.