Witches

Witches are people who practice the occult arts of witchcraft. Classically, witches are always protrayed as female, delineating male witches as warlocks, but in more recent times, it is not uncommon to have a male refer to himself as a witch either. In traditional speculative fiction, witches are almost always cast in a negative light and are practioners of the dark arts, generally in service to Satan, aka, "the debil".

Other interpretations demonstrate witches as members of any number of pagan religions, which are not necessarily evil in purpose or intent. The most well known of such pagan social groups are Wiccans, who practice Earth elemental magic known as Wicca.

Popular tradition holds that the only absolute way of identifying a witch is by drowning them. This test was widely administered during the 17th century in which a suspected witch was tied to a dunking chair and lowered into a body of water. Witches cannot be drowned, so if she survived, then she was clearly a witch. Unfortunately, if one were innocent then they would certainly die. This theory is taken from traditional lore that originated in Europe.

In the continuity of the 1974-1975 supernatural mystery series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, several methods were provided for identifying and stopping a witch. The episode, "The Trevi Collection" posits that if one accuses a person of witchcraft in public, it lessons their power greatly until such time as they can be executed. It also establishes that witches cannot stand the sounds of a bell ringing or glass shattering. It causes them physical pain and even renders them virtually powerless. The main character from the show, Carl Kolchak, used these methods to identify and incapacitate a witch named Madelaine.

On the NBC television series Grimm, Detective Nick Burkhardt encounters several creatures which are demonic witches known as Hexenbiest. These beings are obsessed with immortality and physical beauty, similar to that of the evil queen from Snow White.

Under the pointy hat
Includes actors, voice actors and stunt performers who have played witches.