Witch

The Witches of Sin (大罪魔女 Taizai Majo) is a term in the Re:Zero world, used for a set of individuals who were previously tasked with governing over each of the Seven Deadly Sins.

We currently only have information regarding the individuals who were the last ones associated with said term; seven women who governed over Greed, Pride, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust and Envy, and two individuals who govern over Vainglory and Melancholy, the two archaic sins.

History
The last known Witches of Sin were active four-hundred years ago before six of them died, leaving Satella the only one alive. At roughly the same time as the other Witches' demise, an unspecified event happened which caused Satella to go on a bloody rampage, destroying half of the world in an event that would soon become known as the Great Calamity. In order to stop her from completely destroying the world and not killing off the entire population of that time, the first Sword Saint, the Divine Dragon, the Sage and his apprentice formed an alliance and defeated the Witch of Envy, but due to Satella's immortality, she was sealed in a shrine made of sealing stone which is located near the Pleiades Watchtower in the Auguria Sand Dunes, and is currently watched over by the Sage's apprentice, where she has been located for the last four-hundred years.

Information
Well before the Great Calamity, the concept of Witches governing over the seven deadly sins wasn't unheard of, though it is not known who the previous Witches were, when they lived, what their personalities were, what their legacy is, or when and how they perished.

Roughly four hundred years ago, Sekhmet, Typhon, Daphne, Carmilla, Minerva, Echidna and Satella roamed the world. They were considered calamities due to their actions and their consequences: Typhon went around different towns and cities killing everyone who deemed themselves a sinner, Carmilla was the cause of countless unnecessary deaths of people who accidentally laid eyes on her, and with every usage of Minerva's Authority of Wrath, a natural disaster hit a random location of the world. While not necessarily evil at heart, they were directly or indirectly the cause for many hardships and catastrophes. Perhaps the least calamitous Witches were Echidna and Sekhmet, as Echidna spent her days satisfying her Greed, learning new things and acting as an all-knowing encyclopedia for people all around the world, Sekhmet spent her days in languid Sloth, not moving a muscle and not causing any disasters despite her being the second strongest of the witches.

The Witches shared a rather intricate and at times wholesome relationship. Typhon regarded Sekhmet as her "mommy" and often bathed her since the latter couldn't bother with such trivial chores. At least once per year, all seven Witches got together and had a calming tea party hosted by Echidna, which always took place in a different location of the world. It goes without saying that the area usually suffered a huge disaster and all the people in the large vicinity had to evacuate for safety reasons.

Occasionally, a Witch would go on a rampage, destroying entire towns and areas, killing hundreds or thousands of innocent people, directly or indirectly. Typhon was the most prone to such behavior since her childish view of the world and her values often conflicted with the common mindset. Sekhmet was usually sent to calm her down but she usually did more harm than good, more often than not doubling or tripling the damage and deaths. Daphne often went on rampages, eating everything in existence similar to the Oousagi. With her Authority of Lust clouding everyone's minds to the point of creating instant chaos and/or killing them in a matter of minutes, Carmilla inadvertently turned peaceful areas into devastated war zones with many casualties in their wake, toppling larger cities one after another.

Each witch has two image colors that represent them; Echidna's were white and black, Minerva's were blue and white, Sekhmet's were black and gray, Daphne's were black and purple, Typhon's were blue and green, Carmilla's were red and pink, Pandora's are gold and white, and Hector's are gold and brown.

In the end, each Witch met their end in very different ways with most of them not being connected with Satella's rampage:
 * Typhon drowned when she was trapped within Priestella's defences.
 * Sekhmet fell off the Great Waterfall while fighting the Divine Dragon.
 * Daphne starved to death in the Augria Sand Dunes.
 * Minerva was lured into a trap by a group of elves that were sent by an unnamed person. She ended up going mad and subsequently died at the hands of the Satella, during the Great Calamity.
 * Carmilla burned to death in an unspecified location.
 * Echidna later collected their souls and went to the Sanctuary where Volcanica sealed her off in her tomb. Her death has not been stated yet.

Currently, only the locations of Typhon and Echidna's remains are known. Typhon's remains are located in the Great Temple under the Watergate City of Priestella and Echidna's resting place is located in the Witch of Greed's Tomb located in the Sanctuary.

Despite their status as calamities, the Witches left quite a legacy after their deaths, with three in particular memory. Echidna created a lot of Meteors which are used to the current day, namely by people who are unable to channel magic. Daphne's legacy is perhaps the most destructive and negative as she was directly responsible for the creation of all Demon Beasts. Despite good intentions, Daphne failed to understand or even consider common mindset and morals, creating a plethora of monsters that would go on to do everything other than what they were created for. Instead of solving famine and hunger, the beasts have destroyed towns and larger cities, leaving many areas uninhabitable. The Three Great Demon Beasts have proven the most disruptive by far, ravaging the lands of the known world for centuries. Typhon on the other hand, seems to be rather popular in certain cities all over the world, as she has a cult following from a criminal organization situated in Flanders.

There's generally one rule of thumb that everyone has been keeping in mind: Do not publicly talk about other Witches besides Satella and avoid publicly announcing the possession of a Witch-related artifact. The Witch Cult does not tolerate any other Witch besides the aforementioned Witch of Envy. While they do acknowledge their existence, the Witches themselves (even their names) are a taboo, and violating that said taboo will lead to a very painful and often fatal judgement. Perhaps the best and most well known example of that would be the Garkla incident, that occurred 15 years before the start of the main story, when the infamously unbreachable Vollachian fortress city of Garkla was single-handedly besieged and destroyed by the Sin Archbishop of Greed despite being garrisoned by thousands of soldiers and the Vollachian War God, all thoroughly prepared for battle. Rumor has it that a Witch-related artifact was being auctioned in the city square. It's unknown whether the rumor was true or if someone just made it up so they could bring the Witch Cult to the city, but the unprecedented incident serves as a warning to the Four Great Nations to this day.

Throughout the years, people developed some common misconceptions regarding the Witches; specifically regarding the Witch of Envy. Perhaps the most common mistake people make is contributing the creation of the Demon Beasts to the aforementioned Witch, common belief being that she created them in order to clean the world and get rid of humanity, which is untrue as Daphne is the true creator of the Demon Beasts with an entirely different purpose in mind. Rumors like these spawn further questions of just what other false information are circling around the world regarding the Witches.

Alongside the aforementioned Witches of Sin, two more made their rare appearances; Hector of Melancholy and Pandora of Vainglory. Contrary to other members of the Witches of Sin, there is next to no written historical information about them, not even their current statuses; Hector's one and only appearance predates the Great Calamity and Pandora's last appearance can be traced back to the Garkla incident from 15 years before Subaru's arrival. On top of that, Pandora seems to be working with the Witch Cult, being heavily connected with their activities and overall intentions through the last four centuries, using Sin Archbishops to carry out her biddings.

Current

 * Satella (Envy)

Former

 * Echidna (Greed)
 * Minerva (Wrath)
 * Sekhmet (Sloth)
 * Daphne (Gluttony)
 * Typhon (Pride)
 * Carmilla (Lust)

Others

 * Pandora (Vainglory)
 * Hector (Melancholy)

Trivia

 * All names of the Witches of Sin are related to asteroids, except for Satella.
 * According to the author, all the witches will reappear in Arc 11.
 * According to Tappei, the strength ranking of the 7 Witches of Sin is as follows: Satella >> Sekhmet >>> Typhon > Daphne >> Echidna > Carmilla >>>>> Minerva (Minerva being by far the weakest in offense due to her healing abilities).
 * According to Tappei, the degree of risk among the 6 Witches (not including Satella) is as follows: Minerva > Daphne > Carmilla > Typhon > Echidna >>>>>>> Sekhmet.