Warning- The following description contains unmarked spoilers for Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Proceed at your own risk.
Thanks Kyubey is a Fan Fiction about Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It is an Alternate Universe mainly drawing from a What If?: What if our despicable Kyuubey acts like a normal Magical Girl Mentor Mascot? That is, sweet, helpful, informative, emotional, no manipulating, no trolling. The result is a VERY LIKABLE Kyuubey and changing the setting of Madoka-verse into Lighter and Softer like you wouldn't believe.
Can be read here
or here (beware the NSFW ads!). We recommend you watch the original series first to fully enjoy this work.
Tropes associated with Thanks Kyubey:
- Adaptational Badass: Hitomi becomes a magical girl, which she didn't in canon.
- Adaptational Heroism: Kyuubey is a benevolent Mentor Mascot in this verse so naturally that leads to greater heroism.
- Adaptational Jerkass: This fic's version of Mami is a much bigger jerk than her canon counterpart.
- And Then John Was a Zombie: And then Sayaka was a witch... again. She gets better.
- Back from the Dead: Damn near every Witch in the end, including Charlotte and Gertrud, as good people, in their original bodies.
- Benevolent Genie: The entire story is based on the premise that Kyuubey is a kind and caring Mentor Mascot.
- Big Damn Heroes: Mami did not tie Homura up before facing Charlotte, so Homura managed to save her in time.
- Big Eater: Homura, of all people, can win eating contests, provided she uses time stop.
- But Now I Must Go: Kyuubey says this after making a wish to revert all magical girls and witches back into normal humans - there was no reason to stay, despite all the girls begging otherwise. Eventually averted when Juubey makes a wish as well.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Kyouko rather forcibly ends Hitomi's embrace of Sayaka after Hitomi wished the latter back. Hitomi calls her out on it, given it was Kyouko's kiss that turned Sayaka into a Witch in the first place.
- Comically Missing the Point: Juubey storms out of a party that Kyuubey threw celebrating Sayaka coming back from being a Witch, fed up with the utter nonsense the whole situation has played out. Kyuubey then informs the girls that Juubey's leaving, prompting all of them to enthusiastically wish him well as he leaves.Juubey: Make it stop!
- Covers Always Lie: The cover seems to insinuate that Mami WILL get chomped on the head by Charlotte. It didn't happen.
- Covert Pervert: Madoka, of all the girls, gives hint of this when Sayaka is deciding whether or not to become a magical girl and heal Kyousuke.Madoka: But if you become a magical girl, you can handle rough play and you won't ever get old, right? Isn't that the ideal wife?Sayaka (indignant): Kyousuke isn't that kind of guy!
- Creepy Good: Despite being more honest, benevolent, and caring than his anime counterpart, Kyubey still sports his unsettling and unchanging Thousand-Yard Stare.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Implied to be the result of Walpurgisnacht vs. Homura, Mami, Kyouko, Sayaka, and Hitomi.Kyouko: It's like we were just bullying the poor thing.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage:
- Homura's ringtone is CONNECT, the anime's opening theme.
- When Walpurgisnacht attacks, a caption states: "BGM: Magia".
- Dirty Business: It's implied that Kyuubey really doesn't like their job.
- Empty Chair Memorial: The party held after witch!Charlotte's defeat was originally to celebrate Mami no longer being alone, but Kyuubey sets an empty seat with a plate of cheese to remember Magical Girl!Charlotte. Homura furthers it by reminding those present that such is the fate of all magical girls (though her saying this while wolfing down cake and wearing Grouch Marx glasses keeps the scene far away from the original series' serious tone).Kyuubey: Maybe it's just for my own satisfaction...
- Everybody Lives: This is a plot-point as they go into the fight with Walpurgisnacht without losing anyone along the way. This allows them to defeat her without much difficulty.
- Evil Counterpart: Juubey (black colored Kyuubey) who acts more like what Kyuubey was like in Canon. He ends up getting better.
- Foreshadowing: Juubey gives hints that he has emotion as well despite initially being presented as a normal construct - exasperation, indignation, and frustration were given by him in several strips prior to his wish making Kyuubey human. Furthermore, his motivation for helping out is that he related to Kyuubey in being isolated and ostracized for his emotions, similarly to how Mami and Homura had previously bonded and become friends over being isolated and ostracized for shyness.
- Happily Ever After: It turns out that the Incubators were experimenting with artificial emotions on Kyuubey after they were complained against for using humans. Kyubey was the experimental unit, and succeeded. Kyuubey then proceeded to remove the Soul Gems and reverted the Puella Magi from liches into humans again, Juubey turned Kyuubey into a human to live with Madoka and the others, and all Witches come Back from the Dead without malice (or at the very least Gertrude and Charlotte).
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Juubey acts nasty but has secret compassion for Kyubey.
- Honesty Is the Best Policy: Kyuubey certainly thinks so and that's why he is upfront about the secrets of magical girl life.
- Humanity Ensues: Kyuubey becomes a human girl thanks to Jyuubey's wish.
- Lighter and Softer: Kyuubey-trolling=happier magical girls and greater comfort.
- Mundane Utility: Homura uses her time stop abilities to beat Kyouko in an eating contest.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Unlike virtually all other Incubators, Kyubey has emotions and is capable of empathy. They also make sure people know the full truth about magical girls before offering to make contracts with them.
- Nice Guy: Kyuubey is nice. That's the premise of the story.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Hitomi plans to confess to Kamijou, Sayaka goes into Heroic BSoD as usual... until Kyouko tries to fix it with
a French Kiss. It backfired as the reason Sayaka turns into a Witch was because her first kiss was stolen by a girl, and she didn't like French Kissing. - Not What It Looks Like: Junko rushes into Madoka's room, only to find Homura on top of Madoka in a compromising position. She assumes they are "playing" (her words).
- Pass the Popcorn: When Walpurgisnacht attacks, Madoka wonders if she should become a magical girl and fight with the others. Homura passes her a cola and some popcorn and tells her to "just sit there and watch quietly".Madoka: Yay! It's like I'm watching a movie ♪
- Phrase Catcher: Kyouko getting called a "fucking lesbo".
- Precision F-Strike: "fucking lesbo" is one since the rest of the language in the comic is squeaky-clean.
- When Madoka muses that becoming a magical girl will allow Sayaka to withstand "rough-play", Sayaka responds that Kyouske isn't that kind of guy, followed by "Fuckin' Madoka!"
- Quit Your Whining: Mami and Homura make fun of Sayaka's two-panel agonizing over whether to make a contract for Kyousuke's sake: Mami calls for an ambulance while Homura holds her nose because she can't stand the smell.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: While discussing Sayaka turning into a witch:Kyouko: Damn you... whose fault do you think this is?!Mami: Um, yours.
- Shipper on Deck: Kyuubey encourages Kyoko to pursue Sayaka.
- Sociopathic Hero: When Kyuubey decided to tell a confused Kamijou to save Sayaka, Mami's solution is 'Come with us or DIE', with her gun ready.
- Tears of Joy: After getting his name, Kyuubey says that the only reason he's not crying these is because he doesn't have tear ducts.
- Title Drop: Pretty early on, the girls express gratitude to Kyubey.
- Token Good Teammate: Kyubey seems to be the only incubator capable of empathy for "lower life forms". It turns out that this is because the higher-ups have been experimenting with artificial emotions, and he's unknowingly been their guinea pig for a while now.
- Took a Level in Badass: Hitomi turns into a Magical Girl... with Power Fist to match and punching tummies 3-5 times faster.
- Unable to Cry: Kyuubey doesn't have any tear ducts.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Sayaka and Mami hoped that Human!Kyuubey would turn out to be a hot guy, only to find out that it's a girl.
- Wham Line: "...Good. It looks like our experiment was a success."
- You Are Number 6: Kyuubey is Incubator No. T66600009 and Juubey is Incubator No. T66600010.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Walpurgisnacht goes down very easily thanks to the combined efforts of the magical girls, but then Kyubey's superiors show up.
