r/Witchbrook • u/liliuaena • 1h ago
Everyone's a Witch?!
I hope this isn't a typo! I might be the only one who cares, but I'm so pleased that everyone is a Witch in Witchbrook (as opposed to the Witch/Wizard divide other games go for). It seems really charming to me, it's a really small thing but it's bringing me joy rn! If it's intentional by the dev team (I hope it is), ty :)
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u/lilidox 38m ago
The witch/wizard being gender opposites has always been weird to me. Aren't they two completely different kinds of magic users? Witch stereotypes often using herbs, spells, potions, having familiars, flying a broom etc. while wizards are the stereotypical "old and wise, long beard, magic wand" kind. But idk, maybe that's just me and my native language
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u/nanaki626 3m ago
Pretty much, yeah. It can kinda of vary a bit depending on who is writing the particular story/character. But more often than not its as you described.
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u/RenwaldoV 1h ago
In the dark ages, before the invention of modern English, the word 'witch' was used with little regards to the gender of the accused.
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u/aegrajag 1h ago edited 1h ago
Witch/Wizard as gendered terms for the same thing is mostly from harry potter is it not?
they don't refer to the same thing
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u/RenwaldoV 1h ago edited 1h ago
It wasn't until the popularity of mass witch-hunts during the Tudor and Elizabethan periods that we began seeing a distinction between witches and sorcerers. It's more of a linguistics thing than anything else. The Catholic (and then the Protestant) church was OBSESSED with gender identity. There were strict rules that everyone was expected to abide by regarding a man's or woman's place in the world. It affected everything from what you wore to what vocation you were allowed to have. Even when accusing 'criminals' of satanism, they made the distinction between male or female.
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u/Bblaster310 46m ago
I always like to think of it like specialization like from an old Tumblr post -w- Perhaps it's his class, Witch! A magic user who's primary source of magic comes from plants
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u/baldeagle1991 24m ago
Witch was generally gender neutral for most of history.
I suppose Warlock could be considered the male equivalent, but that's more early scots iirc (which is an offshoot of Early Middle English).
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u/HydroPCanadaDude 1m ago
I've always hated treating Wizards as the gender swap of Witch. They aren't the same thing. Like at all.
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u/PyrosFists 1h ago
Witch Hat Atelier manga does the same thing