Witches, like wizards, are similar in appearance to humans and fairies. However, the source of their magical powers is from their negative feelings and from darkness, while that of the Fairies is from their good feelings and light. This reflects itself in the dark and punk/gothic clothing commonly worn by the Witches.
Even if some witches have used their powers for evil purposes, most witches are not necessarily evil as has been mentioned several times in the series, examples being Griffin who helped the Company of Light fight the Ancestral Witches (as an effort at redemption for having initially worked with the Ancestresses and Valtor, though it was mentioned by Valtor that Griffin and Faragonda were already friends when Griffin was still with the Ancestresses when he says that Griffin left the Ancestresses to side with her "great friend", Faragonda (who was a Witch but later became a Fairy), Mirta, Lucy and the many other Witches of Cloud Tower who helped the Fairies against the Trix, Darkar (unsuccessfully due to their rivalry with the Fairies) and Valtor many times.
Lucy once even told Mirta that not all witches were evil like the Trix, and that some are strong and proud, like Griffin, whom she considered as a role model.
In the Shaab Stone arc of the Winx Club Comic Series, Griffin says that both witches and fairies fight evil, but while fairies use good magic, witches use bad/dark magic (witchcraft).
Origins of the Witches
The Ancestral Witches are the first witches known to have existed and have been called "the mothers of all witches" by Valtor and "the first creatures of evil" in the 21st episode of Season 1. It is unknown what the first title may exactly mean, since the only ones to have ever claimed descent from the Ancestral Witches are the Trix, who simply call themselves as the descendants of the Ancestresses, and Valtor, whom the Ancestresses called their son. It is possible that the Ancestresses are really the ancestors of all witches, but it could also be that the Ancestresses only invented the practice of witchcraft, and that is why they were called the "Mothers of all witches", and the fact that children may choose to become witches or fairies confirms that.The title of "First creatures of evil" may possibly indicate that the Ancestresses were born at the beginning of the Universe perhaps at the same time as Arcadia, maybe created by the power of the Great Dragon or of Darkar or by a combination on their powers maybe in a way similar to the spark of the Dragon Fire, which mixed with the Darkness and which was later made into Valtor by the three old Witches.
In ancient times, many witches came together to create Cloud Tower, which is not only the school for witches but also a magical creature which can be controlled by the one who is in charge of the Tower. The Ancestral Witches may have helped in its creation since there is still a trace of them deep in the underground parts of the castle.
Powers and StrengthIn magical strength, witches are as powerful as fairies and their relative strengths depends on how much the fairy or witch has been trained. For example, the Trix originally seemed much stronger that the Winx, but this may have been because the Trix were senior students at Cloud Tower while the Winx were freshman students (except Stella, who, however, was not very interested in studying and was held back) and because the Trix, being descendants of the Ancestresses, were more powerful than the other witches (which was shown when the Trix took over Cloud Tower and led the Army of Darkness to attack the Magic Dimension in Season 1).
However, Witches can converge their magic with Fairies, which shows that there is a magical link between them that enables witches to combine their negative energies and dark powers with the positive energies and powers of light of fairies, as seen in Episode 24 of Season 1.
Just like Fairies have powers specific to them, witches also have specific powers but due to the Witches powers being based on bad magic, the source of their powers are often things with negative aspects or which can be harmful, like ice, darkness and storms for the Trix, and illusions for Mirta. They can also use magic Convergence like Fairies, but differently, and an unusual way is the Vaccuums of the Trix.
At school, Witches are taught and trained to increase their powers and to use their powers responsibly as to help preserve the Magic Dimension and fight against evil, even if it is by using bad magic.
Witches, like Fairies, make efforts to become more powerful to help protect the Magic Dimension from evil even if it is by using dark magic.
Witches are known to work for their selfish and personal means, but this is mostly a cliché.
It is unknown if Witches have different Witch Forms similar to the Fairies, as no real Witch Transformation was shown in the series. However, in the second movie, the Trix change from civilian form to Witch form by a lightning spell of Stormy, possibly implying a transformation similar if not identical to the Fairies transformation. In the Winx Club Comics, however, the Witches are shown to have a transformation, like the Fairies.
The Gloomix and Disenchantix however, cannot exactly be called Witch Levels, because even if they are almost Witch counterparts of the Charmix and Enchantix, unlike the Charmix and Enchantix which were earned by the Fairies themselves through accomplishing tasks or getting in touch with themselves, these are not earned since it was through a spell of Darkar that the Trix got their Gloomix and it was a spell of Valtor which gave them their Disenchantix. The Gloomix and Disenchantix can thus not be called Witch Forms, but simply spells boosting their powers. Other possibilty is that both Gloomix and Disenchantix are Witch levels and Darkar and Valtor spells were a "shortcut" for obtaining them.In this case it's is unknown which events will cause a normal witch to get this powers.
In Season 5, the Trix are able to earn Dark Sirenix thanks to Tritannus giving them Daphne's powers; but it's still unclear if Witches can obtain Sirenix by their own and if it's a witch level or if it´s only a result of Tritannus' dark powers.
In Season 6, the Trix were able to combine their own earning power and its transformation themselves, in order to win the Winx and also had levitated Cloud Tower with their powers. Its shape is called Dark Witches, this maybe do some kind of reference to how they could transform conventional witches. This form is not known to be polar opposite of the Winx, but to say that his outfit has a feature of ancient witches can you be a counterpart of Bloomix.
Witches and Fairies
Since Bloom discovered her powers when she was 16 years-old and usually Fairies and Witches join Alfea and Cloud Tower at this age, and Mirta turned into a Fairy from a Witch around this age, it is possible that the powers of Witches' and Fairies' power start appearing around this age.
Therefore, someone can still choose between becoming either as Fairy or a Witch so long as they have not become full-fledged Fairies or Witches, or till their powers do not become fully associated with Darkness or Light.
It is thus supposed that children choose to become Witches or Fairies, or that a Witch can become a Fairy and vice-versa, as it has been mentioned on the Official Winx Club Site after the Season 2 revamp that Faragonda used to be a Witch before becoming a Fairy, and it is also seen when Mirta who was a Witch in Season 1, became a Fairy after transferring to Alfea, her Fairy transformation being shown in Season 3. Therefore, Witches and Fairies are not two different species, but people of the same species who chose to use different types of magic.
In Season 6, there are some fairies who decide to quit their powers of light and change sides. This was discovered as Lazuli was tested with Trix and the three witches when they saw what their friends with them to take away their wings and make it a full-fledged witch. Although her fairy attire even preserved in good condition, in another chapter is seen wearing the same outfit but with some improvements.
Witches Working Alone Or in Covens
Witches prefer working alone, as has been mentioned by Griffin when the Winx went to Cloud Tower in Season 2, especially because witches easily tend to betray each other when working in groups. There have however been exceptions, like the Trix and the Ancestral Witches, who have always been supporting and "faithful" towards each other within their respective groups in a warped loving way. It is possible that the Ancestresses and the Trix are two groups of three sisters, as they sometimes call each other little sister or sister, which is why they were able to work together so well.
Even if most of them work alone sometimes they may work in groups, like the Trix and the Ancestresses, where they have unified goals even if there are sometimes rivalries between each other, though this was most probably because they were sisters. Witches have also worked many times with Fairies, with examples being Griffin who often worked with Faragonda, Mirta who helped Bloom but later became a Fairy, and the other Cloud Tower Witches who helped the Alfea Fairies fighting the Trix in Season 1, when they all combined their powers to defeat the Army of Darkness.
There have been very few mentions of groups of Witches in the series aside from the Trix and the Ancestral Witches. This, as explained by Griffin in Season 2, is because Witches never work in groups (thus ruling out the possibility for Witch covens to exist in the Winx Club Universe as well) as they always tend to betray each other.
One notable group of Witches is the ancient trio of Witches to whom the Eye of the Ancestresses was supposed to have belonged that Tecna mentioned in Season 3, though it is very probable that this group was infact the Ancestral Witches.
- Main article: Trix
The Trix are a group of recurring antagonists in the series Winx Club. They are known as "the Senior Witches', or more commonly, just "the Witches", in the English version. They consist of three adult and/or teenage witches, Icy, Darcy, Stormy.
- Main article: Ancestral Witches
The Ancestral Witches are a group of regularly mentioned antagonists in the series Winx Club who however have made rare appearances in the series, being the main antagonists in the movies. They are known as "the Ancestral Witches', or more commonly, just "the Ancestresses", and consist of three ancient witches, Belladone, Lysliss, Tharma.
- Main article: Company of Light
Even though the Company of Light is not a strictly a group of Witches, Hagen mentioned that many Witches, Fairies, Wizards and Warriors helped fight the Ancestresses long ago, the most prominent Witch of the Company of Light being Griffin.
Problems Between Witches and Fairies
Witches and Fairies tend to have opposed natures and this causes rivalry and may lead to tensions between them, like in Episode 9 of Season 1, where many witches joined the Trix to attack Musa and later fight the Specialists and the rest of the Winx girls.
At the beginning of Season 1, in Episode 3, the Witches were so angry that they had not been invited to the party at Alfea that they decided to crash the party and Griffin complains that the Cloud Tower students are never invited to the parties at Alfea and Red Fountain.
However, by the end of the season, the tensions seem to have decreased between the Cloud Tower students and the Alfea students because of the Witches stay at Alfea when the Trix took control of Cloud Tower and because they all fought together against the Trix. In Episode 8 of Season 2, the Witches are even invited to the inauguration of the new Red Fountain building and later in the season Mirta explains to the Winx that most Witches do not like Fairies because they think that Fairies live easy lives at Alfea while they have to do efforts.
The temporary stay of the Winx at Cloud Tower clears more misunderstandings between Witches and Fairies, and both Fairies and Witches start having better opinions of each other. By the end of the season, the Witches are even invited to the party at Alfea. In Season 3, when Valtor takes control of Cloud Tower and sends the Witches to attack Alfea after turning them into his slaves, Flora is shocked on seeing the Witches attacking, saying that she thought the Alfea Fairies and the Cloud Tower Witches were now friends.
In the second movie, however, when the Witches crash the beginning of year ceremony by putting a spell on the food so that whoever eats it becomes a toad, Faragonda complains that the Cloud Tower Witches had also made pranks like bombarding Alfea with drops of storm and stuffing the cakes with roaches and snakes during the party the two previous years (i.e. in the years The Secret of the Lost Kingdom and Season 4 took place), and Griffin answers that Faragonda herself insists on having that party every year, but Fairies and Witches just do not mix. This means that even if the Witches are now friends with the Fairies they still like to cause mischief by playing pranks on the Fairies, this also means there is some friendly rivalry between them.
A perfect example of Witch-Fairy friendship is the friendship between Griffin and Faragonda as even if they can sometimes be rivals, they are also very good friends. The friendship between Mirta and Lucy, especially after Season 2, is also similar, as Lucy ends by accepting Mirta as now being a Fairy and Mirta accepts and respects Lucy's decision to become an accomplished Witch and both decide to remain good friends despite their differences, though it still remains a friendship full of rivalry.
In Season 6, when the Trix take over Cloud Tower, the three witches and their recruits now have all the witches again and apparently have the same rivalry with fairies. First attacked since then Linphea College, and then Tir Nan Og College, which is shown to have even so much stronger rivalries.