Rin Shirayuki

Rin Shirayuki (白雪リン, Shirayuki Rin) is one of the main characters in the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica. She is Hitomi Shizuki’s cousin. Similarly to her cousin, Madoka, and Sayaka, Rin attends Mitakihara Middle School.

Personality
Rin is a normally quiet and reserved girl. As a child, she was introverted. She has no evil intentions, but other students think she is scary and terrifying because of her outfit, which is yami kawaii themed. She also gets excited about new video games, and cares for her friends. Rin gets angry easily, especially at the cost of her friends.

Appearance
Rin’s school uniform, unlike the others, consists of a dark magenta shirt with a hot pink heart plush stitched on the top left of it and she wears a hot pink bow on the shirt. Rin wears the school’s uniform’s original skirt and its original brown shoes.

As a magical girl, she wears a nurse-like dress that has a large skirt and a cream white nurse’s apron with a vertical light purple stripe. She wears a nurse’s hat with a lavender heart.

Fighting Style
Rin’s main source of magic is her hammer. It is capable of not just smashing and physical attacks, but also magical attacks and healing. For example, when Mami Tomoe is healing Kyubey, she turns her hammer into a charm and lets it float above the alien, healing him. An example of her magical attacks is when she creates tiny hammers to battle the witches, which makes it easier to defeat them.

Background
Rin Shirayuki was born in Harajuku, Japan. She later moved to Mitakihara to get closer to her cousin, Hitomi. She grew up alongside her, hiding in her shadow every time they went outside. By the time they reached middle school, she stopped hiding and started showing the world who she was. She hated her uniform and so she added things to it to make it fit her style, Yami Kawaii. Other students started fearing her, and they didn’t dare say a word about her. She soon encounters Kyubey, with him asking her to sign a contract, which she signs.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica
She first appears in the first episode, quietly walking to school with Hitomi, Madoka, and Sayaka. She is in the same class as her cousin’s friends, and she feels something eerie about Homura upon her arrival.

She is later seen following Madoka and Sayaka when they are trying to find Kyubey. She seemingly gets along well with Mami Tomoe, as they are both magical girls. She stops going to school and starts fighting witches full-time, and healing people shortly after battling the witches.

After Mami’s death, she is battling witches less and focuses and healing people. She is later seen witnessing Sayaka’s death, falling into deep depression. Rin got angry at Kyousuke and her own cousin, Hitomi, when Sayaka was upset and stopped doing her job properly because Hitomi and Kyousuke started dating. Rin knows that Hitomi is fully aware that Sayaka has feelings for Kyousuke and still made the move, angering her more. Rin She soon recovers and tries to help Homura battle Walpurgisnacht, and when Madoka arrives on the scene, Rin thanks her.

In the end, she is shown battling alongside Mami, Homura, and Kyouko.

Regenerative Abilities
Similarly, to Sayaka, Kyubey claims that due to her healing-type wish, she gained faster regeneration abilities.

Hammer Skill
Her hammer is quite large, and she has incredible control over it, especially considering her height.

Trivia

 * Her family name (白雪) means white snow. It can also be translated as “Snow White”.
 * She is the shortest known character of her age in the series.
 * Rin claims that she granted her wish because she wanted to help people like her mother, who she says is a nurse.
 * Although yami kawaii started after the series, many fans describe her theme as “scary pastel nurse”, which strays from the yami kawaii theme, as it contains gore and suicide.
 * Many fans call her “Purple”.