Line #68 Main/SolitarySorceress


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5	[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_tn_aotrou_and_the_woods_witch.png]]
6	[-[[caption-width-right:349:[[http://www.tednasmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/TN-Aotrou_and_the_Woods_Witch.jpg Image]] by [[http://www.tednasmith.com/ Ted Nasmith]].]]-]
7
8	Out in the wilderness, probably in an EnchantedForest, lives a woman with magical abilities. She may be a [[UnequalRites sorceress]], witch ({{wicked\|Witch}} or [[WitchClassic otherwise]]), [[DivineParentage demi]][[OurGodsAreDifferent goddess]], [[OurMonstersAreDifferent supernatural creature]] in [[VoluntaryShapeshifting human form]], or some combination of these. Whatever the case, she at least looks like a woman, lives apart from the rest of society, and has some kind of special ability.
9
10	She becomes important to the story when the characters decide to seek her aid, whether for information (achieved by scrying or prophecy) or magical service (a [[ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest magical item for later]], [[HealingHands healing]], removal of a {{curse}}, application of a protective enchantment, etc.) This aid may be given in good faith or as a means to her own ends; freely, or at a price. She may have interfered via a third party to bring the protagonists to her door, but she may also be sought out as a known provider of services, or simply someone the protagonists stumbled across in the course of their travels.
11
12	In order for the characters to encounter her at all, her solitude must not be absolute: perhaps she lives within walking distance of an otherwise normal village, maybe even right on the outskirts of town. She may be a friend of the community, visited frequently by its members according to their need, or be shunned and feared by them. This latter characterization is common of a WickedWitch, who may even prey on the townsfolk, steal babies, etc.
13
14	Whatever her reputation, her abode will be a simple house or cottage, where she may have a {{familiar}} or bevy of servants, but no family members. And the interior of her residence would likely be a WizardWorkshop.
15
16	A notable exception to this trend exists, however: sisters. Specifically, [[TheWeirdSisters three of them]], often according to the pattern of TheHecateSisters. Like the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Fates]], a typical trio of [[FamilyOfChoice sisterly]] witches function narratively as a single unit and thus qualify as "solitary" for the purposes of this trope.
17
18	The Solitary Sorceress can be beneficial to the cast, malevolent—perhaps even the main villain of the story—or ambiguous, either serving her own ends at the expense of everyone else or giving aid only at great cost to the characters.
19
20	She is OlderThanFeudalism -- see Circe -- and a stock figure of the ChivalricRomance.
21
22	This character type leans heavily female, but male versions do exist, usually living in a MageTower instead of a cottage. HermitGuru is a related trope that is usually male. The main distinction between the Guru and the Sorceress is that while characters will consult a HermitGuru for the kind of training, enlightenment, or wisdom that comes from years of discipline, study, and contemplation, they will consult the SolitarySorceress specifically for supernatural aid.
23
24	----
25	!!Examples:
26
27	[[foldercontrol]]
28
29	[[folder:Comic Books]]
30	* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': {{Subverted}} with Magica: she lives in a cottage near the crater of Mount Vesuvius (close enough it's a quick walk to the top), and most of her interactions with the outside consist in either her attempts to steal Scrooge's NumberOneDime or people visiting her cottage for supernatural aide... Except the latter is a frequent occasion, as she has a ''very'' successful business selling potions and charms to the people of Naples, and she will regularly come down from the volcano for groceries. [[NegativeContinuity One of her two origin stories]] even has her imply she had her house built there partly for business purposes, as it would add to her image of sorceress and get her more customers.
31	* ''ComicBook/{{The Warlord\|DCComics}}'': Travis Morgan's daughter Jennifer eventually becomes the most powerful sorceress in the LostWorld of Skartaris. She dwells by herself in a tower at the edge of Skartaris' portal region.
32	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': The witch Circe is one of Diana's most dangerous and constant foes, and while she wouldn't require superhero intervention in her actions if she just stayed away from humanity altogether she still lives, or at least in [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Volume 2]] lived until Diana messed up her set up, on her solitary island with a bunch of animals and monsters that were once human.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
36	* ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #86 ''ComicStrip/SnarfQuest'' #11. Etheah of the Woodland is a benevolent sorceress who lives by herself in a small house far away from civilization.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Fan Works]]
40	* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': Doctor Vivian Lake in ''Unfinished Business'' is a textbook example of this, being a somewhat dotty seeming botanist and witch living in the bayou outside New Orleans, who the heroes go to for advice about Project Pegasus, which she worked at before it went sideways. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, she's actually Nimue, the ArcVillain and the reason it went sideways in the first place. She promptly drugs the lot of them and heads into Pegasus, only sparing them to act as decoys and distractions -- and because a RoaringRampageOfRevenge is a dangerous thing to incite]].
41	* In ''Fanfic/TheWitchOfTheEverfree'', Sunset spends her first few years in the Everfree as this, and actively cultivates it as her public image. She becomes more social as time goes on, though, starting to visit Ponyville increasingly often as time passes.
42	* Durothé, the Wizard Everlasting/Last Wizard, though hardly by choice, in ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone''. [[spoiler: Before the four removed it,]] her anti-communication curse meant that she was better off not mingling with her people (who revere her), but she was dying for the curse to be removed so she could be a real leader to them, not just a figurehead. Only her Interpreter was allowed to speak with her, largely because that person had the only hope of being able to make any sense of what she said—or at least to interpret her in acceptable ways.
43	* In "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13797645/15/Strandpiel-Book-Two Natalya Svetlanovna]]", the Literature/BabaYaga lives alone by choice, although she provides the usual range of Witching services to several surrounding villages, a Cossack stanitsa, and to the household of the local Grand Duke. Her home is an isolated isba deep in the woods. Only in the last few months of her life does she take an assistant witch called Vasilisa - reluctantly - but she appears glad that so many Witches turn up to see her off on her last day.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
47	* One of the most famous examples of the overlap of WickedWitch and this trope is in "Literature/HanselAndGretel", in which the witch lives in the deep woods, in a GingerbreadHouse specifically in order to lure children, which she then fattens and eats.
48	* The old woman Betta stays with for a time in "Literature/{{Pintosmalto}}" lives alone and teaches the girl spells to get back Pintosmalto.
49	* "Literature/TheNinePeahensAndTheGoldenApples": In order to get a horse who can outrun [[BigBad the dragon]]'s steed, the prince must meet an old witch who lives alone in a mountain.
50	* In "Literature/TheDeathOfKoscheiTheDeathless", the legendary witch Literature/BabaYaga lives alone in a remote wood, beyond a river of fire.
51	* "Literature/TheNixInTheMillPond": The wife climbs up a mountain to meet an old sorceress. The old woman herself brings up she lives in a lonely, out-of-the-way cottage.
52	* In "Literature/TheSwanMaiden" variant "[[https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_drummer The Drummer]]", the old witch who has cursed the king's daughters lives alone on top of a towering glass mountain.
53	* "Literature/JorindeAndJoringel": The evil witch lives all alone in the middle of a huge forest. She reinforces her seclusion by paralyzing intruders or turning them into animals.
54	-->''There was once an old castle in the midst of a large and thick forest, and in it an old woman, who was a Witch, dwelt all alone.''
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
58	* The Witch in ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' is an elderly woman living alone (apart from her [[CleverCrows sapient crow familiar]]) in a cottage in the woods. Merida finds her cottage following a trail of {{Will O The Wisp}}s, and asks her help to fix her relationship with her mother. The Witch initially refuses, saying she's out of that whole business after "too many dissatisfied customers."
59	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen\|2013}}'': After accidentally exposing her powers to the world, Elsa flees to the mountains and plans on living her life like this.
60	* Ursula, the Sea Witch in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid\|1989}}'' is a villainous example. She was banished from the Kingdom of Atlantica, but still gives magical help to "poor unfortunate souls"... [[DealWithTheDevil with a hook in it]].
61	* Mama Odie in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' is an [[CoolOldLady elderly]], [[HandicappedBadass blind]] voodoo priestess living in the Louisiana bayou who helps Naveen and Tiana break the curse that turned them into frogs.
62	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone''. Madam Mim is a powerful witch with VoluntaryShapeshifter powers who lives in a hut in the wilderness.
63	* The sorceress Roleil from Creator/RalphBakshi's ''WesternAnimation/FireAndIce'' has a secluded hut in the steamy jungle. When her brutish lackey Otwa brings her a young girl, Roleil uses magic to divine two crucial facts about the stranger: that she is Princess Teegra, daughter of the king of Firekeep; and that she is sought by the ice wizard Nekron.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
67	* In ''Film/BigFish'' there is a Witch who lives in a very dilapidated house outside of the suburbs, and supposedly if you look her in the eye you see how you will die. According to the UnreliableNarrator, he and some friends in their boyhood went on a ScareDare to knock on her door. It ended badly, but she turned out to be NotEvilJustMisunderstood.
68	* In ''Film/TheKnightBeforeChristmas'' the "Old Crone" Sir Cole Christopher Fredrick Lyons meets in the woods outside Norwich, England in 1334 is a benevolent, but meddling, witch. She gives out magical time travel amulets and sends people on personal quests - sending him to 2019 Ohio. She also seems to be able to time travel and teleport international distances herself as she pops up to check on him in 2019 at first. The woods appear to be her usual home.
69	* ''Film/SleepyHollow1999'' by the same [[Creator/TimBurton director]] has the Witch of the Western Woods.
70	* The Sanderson sisters, three {{Wicked Witch}}es in ''Film/HocusPocus'', seem to live just outside of the village of Salem, though by the modern day, the house is within the limits of the town and has been made into a museum.
71	* Tia Dalma from the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest second]] and [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd third]] ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies is a voodoo lady living in a hut on a remote island. She provides information via divination, specifically reading crab bones, and can bring people BackFromTheDead. [[spoiler: In the third movie she is revealed to be the sea goddess Calypso, trapped in a human body.]]
72	* As ''Film/HanselAndGretelWitchHunters'' is loosely based on the fairy tale, the isolated witch in her candy house in the forest makes an appearance in their backstory; the intro newspaper-clipping animation that shows their exploits and growth into professional witch-hunters shows evidence of several more, such as "The Swamp Witch" and "Meadow Witch", and the witch they find that sets off the plot is a woman living off in the forest. And so are the main antagonists. And a good side character. The witches' isolation seems to be {{justified}} in this universe by the fact that dark witches are inherently corrupt and evil, and they start to visibly decay, which makes them too obvious to stay around people.
73	* In the film adaptation of ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'' Lamia is one of three witches who live in a crumbling manor within a wasteland and seek a fallen star to restore their youth. Each of the three assaults the protagonists in her own way.
74	* The Wicked Witch of the West from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' has a castle all to herself, with a platoon of guards patrolling the approach, and a battalion of flying monkeys nearby. Only one monkey is ever seen in the same room as the Witch; otherwise, her servants seem to steer clear unless summoned.
75	* ''Film/ThroneOfBlood'', a loose adaptation of ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' with a feudal Japanese setting, swaps out TheWeirdSisters for a single [[{{youkai}} onibaba]].
76	* ''Film/{{Ophelia}}'': Mechtild's said to be a witch and lives alone in a hovel in the woods, although [[DownplayedTrope technically]] she's a healer with a great knowledge of plants, rather than possessing actual powers.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Literature]]
80	* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfStrongVanya'': The witch Baba Yaga lives in a lonely cottage built in the heart of a moor.
81	* In the ''Literature/ArciaChronicles'', this becomes Gerika's ''modus operandi'' after she learns to control her powers. Before returning to Tarra, she lived on the outskirts of a kingdom in another world, counseling many generations of kings as the a Wise Witch. Afterwards, she uses the same guise to explain herself to Alexander (that she lived in a forest hut that his horse just happened to bring his wounded and unconscious body to), in order to avoid revealing that she was basically summoned to save his life by the self-sacrifice of one of his most loyal friends.
82	* ''[[Literature/AuntDimity Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch]]'' has the residents of Finch learn of such a person who lived in the area centuries earlier when they go on a treasure hunt for the pages of a firsthand account of her.
83	* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' has Vordai, the Witch of the Fens. Shunned by her homeland because of her powers, she's lost more or less all interest in the rest of humanity, and lives in the swamplands of southern Drasnia. She's also become fond of the fenlings, otter-like critters that are native to the fens. When Belgarath and Garion are passing through, she compels them to give the fenlings the power of speech in exchange for passage back out of the fens, on the grounds that she doesn't have long left, and wants them to be able to look after themselves after she's gone. This is potentially problematic, partly because it would be insanely difficult, partly because [[spoiler: Belgarath had recently been strained almost beyond his capacity in his fight with Ctuchik, and was believed at the time by Garion and Polgara to potentially have burnt out his powers, and since he's the de facto BigGood, if he'd found his gifts were no longer there, the domino effect would have been horrific]]. As it is, it works - while Belgarath later notes that he could have slid out of it fairly easily if he'd wanted to, he felt sorry for Vordai.
84	* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'', Taran and his friends journey multiple times into the treacherous Marshes of Morva to seek the counsel of the Three Sisters, Orwen, Orgoch, and Orddu, inscrutable witches of unspeakable power who like to play with people's lives.
85	* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', the Queen Mothers of [[TheFairFolk Faerie courts]], most powerful of their kin and theoretically mortal enemies, live together in [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith what seems to Harry]] a simple cottage. Their isolation here is near-absolute: they occupy a corner of the [[SpiritWorld Nevernever]] that is inaccessible by normal means, and don't like uninvited visitors.
86	* ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'':
87	** The witch Morwen lives out in the Enchanted Forest with a ridiculously large number of cats. She has a few notable friends who will journey into the forest to visit her, including a dragon who regularly borrows her crepe pan, but for the most part she's alone with her cats and she likes it that way. She provides aid to other main characters in all four books, usually when they encounter her house by chance.
88	** The magician Telemain is Morwen's male counterpart. He's an eccentric who spends most of his time in the middle of nowhere doing SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic experiments. In ''Talking to Dragons'' Daystar and Shiara happen upon his WizardsTower while in need of aid.
89	** The fire-witch in ''Calling on Dragons'' doesn't fit the mold, but he ended up in the position of one, taking over the role from his sister Rachel, who inherited the isolated tower from the original Solitary Sorceress when she retired. Rachel got tired of misguided adventurers trying to "rescue" her and so gave the place up to her brother, who got tired of the same thing and eventually filled in the road, making the tower truly isolated. The protagonist party wouldn't have encountered him at all but for a teleportation mishap.
90	** A different fire-witch in ''Talking to Dragons'' lives in an invisible castle that teleports randomly around the Enchanted Forest (presumably she had some way to track it down). She attacks passersby in order to [[TakenForGranite turn them to stone]] and use them as decoration for the castle.
91	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Witches on the Discworld live this way, Nanny Ogg being an exception -- she lives in a huge sprawling house in Lancre town as the matriarch of her massive family. Witches are given a grudging and sometimes hesitant reverence by the community, which they consider it their duty to protect, even without gratitude.
92	* Xan of ''Literature/TheGirlWhoDrankTheMoon'' is literally called the Witch in the forest. She lives only with Glerk the swamp monster, Fyrian the pet dragon, and later Luna the moon-child. Xan does make occasional trips to the Free Cities to provide medical care and deliver children, but no one comes to see her at home due to the hazards of the forest.
93	* ''Literature/GoblinsInTheCastle'': The witch Granny Pinchbottom is a sort of boogeyman figure the main character William was taught to fear, but when he encounters her, she turns out to be well-intentioned, though somewhat duplicitous and scary, and gives him [[ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest a few items he needs]]. She helps Fauna out too in the sequel.
94	* ''Literature/GoodOmens'': Agnes Nutter apparently lived alone on the outskirts of her village. Her last scion, Anathema Device, also lives alone, in a cottage she rented outside Tadfield, and acts as a source of information and assistance to Adam and Newt.
95	* The Sea Witch in ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'' lives by herself in a dangerous part of the ocean. Unlike in the [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Disney adaptation]], here, she's a TrueNeutral character who tells the mermaid about every negative consequence her spell has.
96	* In one of the ''Literature/{{Lythande}}'' stories, Lythande is under the influence of a cursed lute that leads the way to a small house isolated in a swamp, with a single beautiful woman living there. Initially she's taken to be a hedge-witch hiding her power from society,[[spoiler: but it turns out that she's a dragon in human form]].
97	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. The Ghost of High Heart is a woods witch in the Riverlands that the [[JustLikeRobinHood Brotherhood Without Banners]] consult for her [[{{Seers}} knowledge of the future.]] She always gets paid for her prophecies with a song from the groups bard, though would be [[DirtyOldWoman quite happy to get a kiss instead]].
98	* There are two in ''Literature/TheSwordOfTruth'' series: Adie, a sorceress who helps early on and eventually becomes one of Zedd's traveling companions, and Shota, a witch who is more antisocial, telling and giving things to Richard that he doesn't like but she deems to be for his own good.
99	* ''Literature/GlindaOfOz:'' Reera the Red is a Yookoohoo (a powerful magic user specializing in transformations) and lives isolated with her pets in a cottage in the woods, because she dislikes human company. Usually she neither helps nor harms others, but Ervic the Skeezer manages to [[ReversePsychology trick her]] into restoring the Three Adepts to their true forms. She takes being tricked with good grace, but tells him and the Adepts not to spread the word of her uncharacteristic helpfulness, because she doesn't want people to start pestering her for help all the time.
100	* In ''Literature/TheForgottenBeastsOfEld'', Sybel is a young sorceress, descended from a line of wizards, who lives alone in a white stone house surrounded by a large garden stocked with legendary magical animals. People do ''not'' come to her for help, there's a witch farther down the mountain for that, until a young lord knocks at her gates with a baby he wants her to shelter and raise.
101	* Creator/UrsulaVernon's short story [[http://www.apex-magazine.com/razorback/ "Razorback"]] has two: Sal and Elizabeth Gray. Between them they demonstrate the typical gamut of the trope between helpful and callous.
102	* In ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'', women with power above the level of an ordinary hedge-witch live outside the town. For Godmothers, whose role includes judging cases and meting out punishments, this is to help them stay neutral. For Sorceresses, especially the evil kind, there are various Traditional reasons.
103	* In ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian: "Hour Of The Dragon"'', (usurped) King Conan is healed by one.
104	* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': Kaylana, a druid, was living alone in the woods for years before meeting Sam and Arcie.
105	* ''Literature/TheMarvellousLandOfSnergs'': Mother Meldrum is a WickedWitch who, among others things, sells curses. She lives alone in a spooky shack built in the heart of a gloomy, dark forest.
106	* ''Literature/{{Deverry}}'':
107	** In order to hide he doesn't die, this is one of the guises Nevyn routinely evokes, every several decades going to a poorly settled section of the kingdom where some ancient ruins are nearly buried under a hill by time. He lives there for 20-30 years, studying magic and administering healing and aid to the nearby village. He doesn't mind visitors, as long as the Wildfolk are behaving.
108	** Near the end of ''The Silver Mage'', [[spoiler:Salamander]] decides to invoke this, living in a tower far from current settlements, committing to the intense studies [[spoiler:he's put off for decades]]. But it's not for the isolation; the ancient tower is not far from where the Horsekin will have to pass if they get it in their heads to try and invade elven and human lands again. Dweomer [[spoiler:and dragons]] are the best early warning and defense systems if the Horsekin get antsy again.
109	* ''Literature/IveBeenKillingSlimesFor300YearsAndMaxedOutMyLevel'': Eno the witch lives in a hidden, inaccessible cave because [[AppealToTradition she thinks it's traditional]]. When Azusa points out that she's [[DidntThinkThisThrough making herself incredibly lonely for no practical reason]], Eno moves into town, but [[ArtifactName continues to call herself]] the Witch of the Grotto.
110	* ''Literature/TheReluctantKing'': One sorceress lives off on her own, as she won't [[WeirdTradeUnion join the guild]] (required for practicing magic legally) as its licensing rates are pricey, operating in isolation to avoid arrest.
111	* In ''Literature/WiseChild'', Juniper is introduced as this, being a mysterious healer who lives on her own outside the village and is reputed to be a WickedWitch by the locals. In reality, she's a kind woman with abilities that are based on nature and don't include magic spells.
112	* ''Literature/TheMisenchantedSword'': The wizard is a hermit who retired to work on his magic living in a hut within a great forest. Valder notes this has left him with [[NoSocialSkills poor interpersonal skills]] after so long alone.
113	* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': Wizards live solitary lives in [[MageTower Towers]], Citadels or Cities where they also study.
114	* ''Literature/{{Inkmistress}}'': Asra is a demigod with many magical abilities. She lives in a mountain cave alone when the story starts, though a village is nearby whose people she provides with her services, and Asra's mortal lover visits her frequently. Asra leaves home after a spell which she cast [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes awry]], resulting in the villagers being slaughtered, with her lover as the SoleSurvivor.
115	* In ''The Iron Hand of Mars'', Literature/MarcusDidiusFalco encounters the (real life) German seer Veleda, who lives alone at the top of a former Roman watchtower. Falco's handsome friend Justinus turns up JustInTime to stop her from executing them, and even spends some private time in her tower; it's implied that she's somewhat lonely. She returns in a later book as a captive of Rome, and Justinus (and of course Falco) get in trouble while trying to save her from being put to death.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
119	* Flashback-only character Maggy the Frog in ''Series/GameOfThrones'' is a forest witch that practices BloodMagic and lives alone in a small cabin in the woods. Her book counterpart, on the other hand, is an urban fortune teller.
120	* ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'':
121	** When he's first introduced Zedd is living by himself outside the village, considered a crazy old man who's possibly a wizard.
122	** The witch woman Shota lives alone in the woods, giving out advice to the heroes that's based on her visions of the future (whether they want it or not) and influencing events when she thinks they're doing things wrong.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Music]]
126	* Dr. John's song "Bruha Bembe" is about a "conjure woman" who lives "way down the bayou."
127	* The Scottish folk song "Witch of the Westmoreland", originally recorded by Archie Fisher, is about wounded knight who seeks out the title character, hoping she can heal his wounds.
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
131	* Circe of ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' may be a candidate for UrExample for Western culture. She lives on an island and [[ForcedTransformation turns shipwrecked sailors into pigs]], in order to fill her larder. Though often described as a sorceress, she is technically a demigoddess.
132	* Literature/BabaYaga is generally depicted as an old witch who lives in the deep woods, and sojourns out to capture and eat children. Modern versions of the character are more ambiguous and in line with TheTrickster.
133	* The mountain hag Yama-Uba from Myth/JapaneseMythology lives in the remote mountains and eats people.
134	* Myth/CircassianMythology: In the tale of Warzameg and Psatina there is the Bitch-Witch of the Flying Wagon, who lives in an isolated cove with her herd of horses.
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
138	* TheHero gelfling Jen from ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' consults the reclusive Aughra, the Keeper of Secrets in her mountain cave, to learn clues about his mission and the purpose of the crystal shard. Aughra, however, is such a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} that her clues are cryptic and questionable at best. Jen is certain only that he must get to the stronghold of the sinister Skekses, and that time is running out to press the ResetButton.
139	[[/folder]]
140
141	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
142	* ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #82 article "Wounds and Weeds". A fighter wounded in battle encounters an old woman living by herself. She saves him from death with her knowledge of herbal healing.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Video Games]]
146	* Erika Redmark is the most powerful mage in ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}}''. Because of her anti-social personality and all-consuming desire for revenge on TheEmpire, she lives by herself in a MageTower far to the west, rather than some [[WizardingSchool more centralized location]].
147	* In ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'', Adria the witch lives just outside of Tristram and sells magical items and {{mana potion}}s.
148	* Flemeth initially appears to be just an elderly "apostate" mage hiding out in the wilderness from the church's enforcers when you first meet her in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''.
149	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
150	** A ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' Mages Guild quest has you seek out a Dunmeri Sorceress who hasn't been paying her guild dues. She lives in a cave far from civilization.
151	** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Anise is a kindly old lady who lives in a cabin on the outskirts of Falkreath until you find a letter of her conspiring with her Hagraven sister in her basement, where she becomes hostile.
152	* In many of ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games, Link can buy potions from a witch (usually named Syrup) who lives by herself in the woods.
153	* In ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', the role of the Guardian of Time was a solitary sorceress that oberved the flow of many timelines without interfering with them. In her loneliness, she began to fall for TheHero that she kept seeing and ended up corrupted by [[HijackedByGanon Ganondorf]] to {{Yandere}} levels of obsession with him. [[spoiler:After Cia is defeated, Lana -- her [[EnemyWithout literal Good Side]] -- attempted to take over the role. With the expanded storyline in ''Legends'', Cia gets resurrected and the two now share their original role.]]
154	* The Voodoo Lady fits the bill in three of the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' games: in ''[[VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge LeChuck's Revenge]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland Curse]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland Tales]]'', she lives in a place remote enough that Guybrush will find her somewhere around the end of the first act, around when he gains the [[OpeningTheSandbox freedom to move around the game world]]. However, in the original ''[[VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland Secret]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/EscapeFromMonkeyIsland Escape]]'', she lives right in the middle of Mêlée town and is accessible right away. In all games, she gives Guybrush boundless advice and helps to construct some [[HollywoodVoodoo voodoo spell]] to [[ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest help him on his quest]].
155	* Witchie of ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonSunshineIslands'' moves to a forest near the town in ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons2014'', invoking this trope.
156	* Metallia, the titular witch of ''VideoGame/TheWitchAndTheHundredKnight'' lives in a swamp somewhat isolated from civilization, only having her butler and the Hundred Knight for immediate company. She's [[HotWitch not]] [[JerkAss exactly]] the wise hermit archetype though, and she does have a few friends outside the swamp [[spoiler: although all but one of them betrayed her]].
157	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' has a few examples.
158	** It is first done with Matoya of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', a witch who lives in a cave and is attended by a bevy of enchanted brooms.
159	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' has one as well, though this one is different from all the others in that she's much younger. Eiko, roughly six years old, plays this role. She's encountered in Madain Sari, and is the [[LastOfHisKind last summoner]] (aside from Garnet), living alone except with the moogles, which can be counted as her {{Familiar}}. She helps the group get into the [[WorldTree Iifa Tree]] and is one of the few examples on this page who abandons solitude and joins the party.
160	** A subverted version is Belgemine from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', in that you encounter her often in different places in your travels. However, by the end of the game, it's revealed that Remiem Temple is her home [[spoiler:and if you go there, she reveals she's Unsent]]. She is a summoner, like Yuna, and she often offers Yuna friendly duels throughout the game to train her.
161	** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', Y'shtola brings Alphinaud and the Warrior of Light to see her former master, [[spoiler:[[MythologyGag Matoya]], who lives in a cave complete with a remix of the first one's theme as its background music. This Matoya helps them get to Azys Lla, the forbidden land, and she also holds the secrets to the Antitower.]].
162	* From ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'':
163	** A traditional take on this is [[FallenAngel Morgana the Fallen]], who serves as one to [[TheGoodKingdom Demacia]]. Once upon a time, she and her twin sister Kayle were the half-angelic arbiters of justice who founded what would become the kingdom, but following [[CainAndAbel a nasty falling-out]], Kayle disappeared into the heavens while Morgana chose to lay low among mortals. Nowadays, she hangs out in Demacia's outlying woods, with rural villagers not aware of who she actually is other than a powerful sorceress, and occasionally, she's sought out to help deal with their interpersonal disputes.
164	** [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Veigar, the Tiny Master of Evil]] is a [[GenderInvertedTrope male]] and [[PlayedForLaughs vastly more comedic example]]. Having commandeered a MageTower from a previous warlord he shunted out, [[CardCarryingVillain he fancies himself as the oppressive evil wizard of a local farm community]], plotting his conquest to TakeOverTheWorld. However, [[HarmlessVillain the villagers only see him as a light nuisance]], and have actually come to agree that he's a net ''benefit'' since he's taking care of the actual dangers for them, so they mostly just leave him alone and feign terror to humor him.
165	[[/folder]]
166
167	[[folder:Web Animation]]
168	* Lemony Wee the witch may well be the only human in ''WebAnimation/{{Brackenwood}}'', though she spends a lot of her time with the Auld Sage, an ancient, naked [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti bigfoot]].
169	[[/folder]]
170
171	[[folder:Web Comics]]
172	* ''Webcomic/AliceGrove:'' Alice is a high tech version of this trope. She is superhuman instead of supernatural, but lives by herself in a cottage in the woods, and helps the local townspeople. She even calls herself a witch.
173	[[/folder]]
174
175	[[folder:Web Original]]
176	* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-352 SCP-352 ("Baba Yaga").]] She's the original Baba Yaga, including child eating. She used to live in an "Enchanted Forest" in southern Russia before the Foundation captured her. She can lift more than 200 kilograms of weight and move at speeds of more than 70 km/hour. She secretes an enzyme that renders her prey helpless and has PrehensileHair.
177	[[/folder]]
178
179	[[folder:Western Animation]]
180	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': [[spoiler:Toph Beifong]] has become this by the time Korra finds her, living alone in a vast swamp, meditating and [[TheGadfly terrorizing the local swamp tribe]]. She says the roots of the tree allow her to sense what's going on the world over, including when [[spoiler:her daughters]] are in trouble.
181	* Zecora of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' lives by herself in the Everfree Forest. Everypony thinks she's an evil enchantress because of her odd appearance (she's a zebra) and mannerisms (in her first appearance she paws at the ground, a case of CrossCulturalKerfluffle as real zebras do it to find water but ponies and horses do it as a threat gesture) as well as her strange way of speaking (which sounds vaguely threatening), not to mention she lives in the Everfree Forest, which has a large share of strange and dangerous plants and animals while also having its own phenomena (since in Equestria, natural events like animals hibernating and leaves changing color are actively managed by the pony denizens). It turns out she is actually quite friendly. However, she can't cast spells like a unicorn, but as a zebra, she can concoct a wide variety of potions and has an extensive knowledge about plenty of things that the ponies may not know. The solitary becomes Downplayed over time as while she remains living in the Everfree, she is much more welcomed in town while visiting more frequently and even participating in events such as chaperoning fillies and colts for Nightmare Night.
182	* ''WesternAnimation/ThundarrTheBarbarian'': In the episode "Island of the Body Snatchers" the witch Circe (no relation to the Circe from Myth/ClassicalMythology) lives alone on an island except for some mooks she keeps as soldiers and servants.
183	* The second season of ''WesternAnimation/MiaAndMe'' introduces Tessandra, who lives deep in the Blackwood Forest alone with her son, Simo, and who the heroes end up seeking out to figure out how to reverse the effects of the green fluid Rixel uses to control his animals. Tessandra initially tries to keep outsiders away, but when Simo threatens to leave her to go with Mia and the others, she decides to hear them out and help figure out how to make the antidote to the green fluid.
184	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SolitarySorceress