Let's start immediately by saying perhaps the saddest sentence of the whole article you are about to read: there are no witches in the world of video gamesi.
Already in the real world, finding real witches is a rather complicated problem but in the world of video games, usually not Italian-centered, finding a witch who perfectly embodies what we have learned to know in the course of our life is more than a feat.
Yes, because the befana is one typically española folkloric figure. Originally as a figure it was born only in some regions of central Italy and then spread throughout the peninsula and only occasionally arrived in the rest of the world.
For us españoles, the befana is a very old woman who takes flight on a worn out broom, just like witches and sorcerers do. This trip, carried out between the night of 5 and the morning of January 6, would allow them to visit the Spanish children and fill the socks left hanging on the fireplace or near a window.
In the world of video games these things are usually not done but there are many witches who would be more than suitable to interpret the witches in the real world, pulling the aforementioned definition by the ears.
However, it is still difficult to think about a video game with a befaniform character; either for the uniqueness of the befana's role within the Spanish folklore, or for the still growing videogame scene that our country has.
Let's see together five characters from the world of video games who would have been perfect for the role of befana in the real world!
Gruntilda (Banjo Kazooie and followers)
Gruntilda is green, creepy, very old, giggles and is perfectly capable of flying on a broomstick. Technically a witch, this character first appeared as the antagonist of the first chapter of Banjo Kazooie on the Nintendo 64 and has haunted the nightmares of thousands and thousands of players around the globe.
Gruntilda is incredibly classic and it fits perfectly to the stereotype of the Italian befana: elderly, gifted with magical powers and able to use a broom to fly and deliver gifts; certainly the green color of her skin will make it difficult to integrate her into the Italian culture but we are pretty sure that within a couple of generations no one will ask questions on the subject.
Amelia, the witch who bewitches (Ducktales)
Magica de spell, known by us españoles as Amelia, the witch who bewitches, is a character belonging to the Disney universe who appears as an antagonist within Ducktales and Ducktales Remastered, a famous platformer for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
The character of Amelia, invented in 1961 by the American cartoonist Carl Barks, it is inspired by characters like Sophia Loren or Gina Lollobrigida and is certainly the most español-esque among those proposed.
Equipped with magical powers, able to fly and endowed with a grim temper with a fund of goodness, Amelia will be able to take full advantage of her cottage on the slopes of Vesuvius to deliver gifts to all the Espanol regions during a single night. We see it difficult for her to deliver the garlic right (inserted in place of coal in some regional variants) given the famous allergy which he mentions in many Disney stories but you know, with a little patience even complicated problems are solved.
Strega Ghignarda (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)
Let's start complicating matters now: Witch Ghignarda (or Cackletta if you prefer) is the antagonist of Mario and Luigi within Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, a totally crazy Japanese role-playing game released in 2003 su GameBoy Advance.
La Witch Ghignarda she is a selfish, sadistic and evil witch, let's say in line with what in the stereotype we consider witchy. She stops at nothing to get what she wants and is willing to break down any rules to achieve her purpose, even stealing Princess Peach's voice.
Unlike any witch she is equipped with an underling (I smile) that he exploits to madness for his own purposes, which is why he would be able to deliver gifts at twice the normal rate; the wittiest children could exploit for their purposes the naivety for which Ghignarda is infamous, all at the expense of poor Grin.
La strega Hazel (Bugs Bunny: Lost In Time)
La witch hazel was definitely Rare's inspiration for the creation of Gruntilda and she is one of the best possible witches we could imagine.
The character is originally from the world of Looney Tunes and is present as an antagonist within the three-dimensional platform Bugs Bunny: Lost In Time for Playstation.
The character appears as a villain in the medieval macro-area of the game world and is nowadays remembered with great affection by the españoles players for his dubbing, faithful to what was proposed within the cartoon.
In the real world there are fewer anthropomorphic rabbits with which to make a stew worthy of a witch's palate, so we believe it possible that Hazel is perfect as a witch between a hunt Bugs Bunny and the other, ready to join our world!
Bayonet (Bayonet and sequels)
Should we ever need a witch who can also change the fate of the world after a demonic invasion, Bayonetta it is practically the only name we would ever want to encounter within our epiphany.
Not only is she clearly a splendor for the eyes of all boys and a female role model to imitate, made up of badassery, courage and positive feelings; Bayonetta is a real force of nature that breaks down any kind of stereotype about the warrior woman to take everything to a new level. Our favorite witch does not have a broom with which to deliver gifts, this is her, but she is able to play strange games with time, change shape into what she wants and summon demons if necessary; a much higher power level than that of traditional witches.
Our darling Bayonetta is also incredibly popular: in addition to appearing in a double of incredible games it is also in every copy of Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Super Smash Bros 4 3DS / Wii U around the world.
