Witch

The Witches of Sin (大罪魔女 Taizai Majo) are a group of nine individuals who each represent a different sin.

History
The 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, Satella went out of control and subsequently destroyed 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 every person in existence, 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 timidest 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 relationships. 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 nice tea party, always 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 vicinity had to evacuate for safety reasons.

Occasionally, a Witch would go on a rampage, destroying entire towns and areas, killing multiple 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. 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.

Each witch has two image colors that represent them; Echidna's are white and black, Minerva's are blue and white, Sekhmet's are black and gray, Daphne's are black and purple, Typhon's are blue and green, Carmilla's are 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 different ways:
 * 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 someone. She ended up going mad and subsequently died by the hands of the Witch of Envy.
 * 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.

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, leaving many areas uninhabitable. Three Great Demon Beasts have proven the most disruptive by far, ravaging the lands the known world for centuries. Typhon on the other hand, seems to be rather popular in certain cities, 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 do 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 very fatal judgement. Perhaps the best and most well known example of that would be the Garkla incident, occurring 15 years before the start of the main story, when the infamously unbreachable Vollachian fortress city of Garkla was single-handedly destroyed by the Sin Archbishop of Greed despite being garrisoned by thousands of soldiers and the Vollachian War God, all fully prepared for battle.

Rumor has it that a Witch-related artifact had been 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 Jealous 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.

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.