I feel like witches are one of the few characters that can be thrown into almost any story and it works. I don't mean that in a bad way, but I'm noticing they seem to pop-up in a lot of different stories and time periods, and serving different purposes, and it still works, depending on how talented the writer is.
You're writing a historical thriller? Perhaps a murder victim was really killed by a witch. You're writing a contemporary story? Maybe the protagonist's family was once accused of witchcraft. Maybe she learns she's a witch. For a story being told in the far-off future, humanity could believe they found answers to everything and witches are fictional, only to learn that the aliens they've been fighting have abilities that can only be explained by yelling "Witchcraft!" as dramatically as possible. Not to mention how witches are seemingly everywhere in fantasy.
My point is, witches are prevalent in fiction. The characters being described as witches don't necessarily have to be witches, they just are accused of it. They could simply be suspected, or the narrative could imply that the only way an event could happen is through witchcraft. Yet, for such a seemingly ubiquitous stock character, witches aren't defined to one role in fiction.
Witches sometimes are evil. The first example that comes to mind is the witch in Hansel and Gretel. She murders and eats children. Another example is the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus. The Wicked Witch of the West. The Grand High Witch from The Witches. I could go on. Ursula in The Little Mermaid. There are plenty of witch characters that are completely evil and serve as the villain of the story. Maybe they want to take over or end the world. Or maybe, they just want revenge on a specific person or people.
Witches are also protagonists or at the very least "good guys" in stories. For an example, see Hermione Granger. Diana Bishop from A Discovery of Witches is another good example, as is Sabrina Spellman. The list goes on. Sometimes, the story is about a girl, or woman, finding out she's a witch and learning to control her powers. Other times, the witch is called upon to defeat some greater threat. In few, but some cases, magic is being repressed and the witch character is meant to end the magic-hating regime and free the other witches and repressed magical creatures. Sometimes, the witch isn't a main character, but fulfills the role of a mentor or motherly figure to another.
The third category of witches seems to be "witches as plot-devices". This is more of an urban-fantasy thing than anything else, but it does pop-up elsewhere. The "good guy" characters are in trouble. Maybe they were captured by the villain, maybe they come across some unpassable obstacle. Perhaps one's been cursed. It's awfully convenient then, that a member of their party, or another prisoner, or some random person walking by, happens to be a witch and knows a spell that will help. I won't lie, this one annoys me a lot. Because these characters either show up as a deus ex machina, or if they are part of the core character, they fade into the background until they're needed again.
One fairly popular show that did this often was The Vampire Diaries. Bonnie Bennett, the only main witch character for most of the series, somehow found a spell that stopped the Big Bad every time. In fact, it seemed like the only reason her character existed and remained on the show was to find a magical solution at the last minute to save the day. She saved everyone from the bad guy, and then had a crappy storyline that only existed so that she'd be around the next time they needed magic to solve their problems. I don't like this trope because it cheapens the character and shows that her only purpose is to do one specific thing and then go away.
Witches show up a lot in fiction. They serve many different roles depending on the story. I love witch characters. The good, the bad and the plot-devices. I know some people claim they're sick of witches, but I actually think we need more witches. Ones with different stories, different rules, and different backgrounds.
What's your view on witches, and magic in general, in fiction?
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