Coco

**Coco** (ココ, *Koko*) is the protagonist of Witch Hat Atelier. She is a young girl who becomes an apprentice witch under the witch Qifrey's tutelage following her initial accidental use of forbidden magic which turned her mother to crystal. She hopes to search the Tower of Tomes for the book containing the magic she cast in order to reverse its effects on her mother.

## Appearance

Coco is a young girl with neat yellow- green hair reaching her chin and golden eyes. Prior to joining the atelier, she wore a simple white dress while working in her mother's tailor shop. After joining the atelier, Coco now wears the apprentice robes of Qifrey's Atelier.

## Personality

Coco is a bright, cheerful, and optimistic young girl. As she was raised outside of the world of witches, she has a childlike enthusiasm for magic and observes even the most commonplace spells with wide-eyed wonder.

Coco genuinely loves magic. The spell that inspired this in her was simple magic made by Qifrey's watcher Olruggio that caused a glowstone path to light up as she walked. Her approach to magic is often simplistic and practical, focusing on straight lines and simple shapes, but she excels at brainstorming concepts and ideas that are often used by her fellow apprentices.

## Plot

### A Touch of Magic

One day as Coco was doing her chores, she saw winged chariots arriving at her mother's clothing shop. She bumped into the witch, Qifrey who was passing by to purchase some cloth. He observed her cut a piece of cloth and remarked that her skill was magic itself. Embarrassed, Coco told Qifrey that her fascination with magic began since she was little. Her mother had brought her to a castle fair, where she bought a magic picture book and a wand from a mysterious, masked witch. Qifrey seemed disturbed by her story, though he said nothing. After several kids accidentally broke the winged chariot, he offered to fix it using magic. Although Coco was not allowed to, she managed to witness Qifrey casting magic from the shop's rooftop.

Later that night, Coco decided to try her hand at drawing magic using the magic picture book and wand she had bought. After finding relative success after a few tries, Coco decided to draw something more complicated. Qifrey snatched her away from the drawing at the last minute and saved her from an explosive light bursting from the magic circle. Whilst reprimanding her for carelessly drawing magic, her mother was caught in the forbidden magic and was turned to crystal. Coco was further horrified to learn that Qifrey would erase her memories for using magic, but he realized that she was his only lead to the Brimmed Hats, a group of witches performing forbidden magic. Qifrey decided to take her up as an apprentice in his atelier.

Coco falls asleep riding a Winged Chariot to Qifrey's Atelier. When they arrive, Qifrey informs her he planted gatekeeper thorn seeds to keep people from getting to her house and mother, to which Coco begins to cry, telling Qifrey that she had promised her mother that she would never leave her. Coco then meets Tetia, who teaches her how to use a Vapor Bubble, and Richeh, Qifrey's apprentices. The two startle when Coco explains she is not an apprentice and Qifrey explains to Coco how magic is kept a secret and magic drawn on the human body is forbidden, a decision made at the end of a war, the Day of Conspiracy. Qifrey explains to her that her best bet at finding a cure for her mother is to get to the Tower of Tomes-to do so, however, she has to pass some tests. She is then led to her workspace, which she learns she will be sharing with another of his apprentices, Agott. Agott arrives back at that atelier at that moment and demands Coco take the first test the next day.

The next day, Coco questions Tetia about magical items and borrows a book from her to learn more however Qifrey finds her and provides her with magical tools for her to learn firsthand. Qifrey gives her a lecture on magic and then she begins to draw in earnest, ruining what Agott was working on and throwing Coco into a panic. Agott explains to Coco what she did wrong in drawing her magic and, satisfied, Qifrey leaves the two. Agott insists Coco take the test, allowing her to borrow her Soar Boots, as well as taking a Vapor Bubble and Magic Compass. Coco follows the compass to find the Dadah Range and is shocked to find they are floating balls of earth in the sky.

Coco takes up the challenge of the test, using Agott's Soar Boots to try to get to the top of the Dadah Range. However, she slips up and gets startled by a brushbuddy, causing her to fall into the lake below, which then ruins her ink as well as the magic on the bottom of Agott's shoes. Night falls and Coco has not come up with a solution, and she begins to feel hopeless, briefly considering using forbidden magic but stopping herself before she could. She remembers Qifrey calling her abilities at her mother's shop magic, and uses that as inspiration to create a painting stone, and draws on the fabric of an abandoned boat sail. By morning, she is ready, and her magic makes the boat sail into the air. She grabs a Diadem Herb and returns to the atelier with it, meaning she successfully passed the test. However, when she tries to give the herb to Agott as proof of her competence, she leaves without a word. Despite this, when Qifrey scolds her for her rash decision to take the test, she does not tell Qifrey it had been Agott's idea, and Qifrey gives Coco her new clothes and witch hat.

Sometime later, Tetia douses Coco in water as Coco had been unable to control her fire magic. She explains to Tetia that she wants to fix Agott's boots for her, and had done everything except the magic on the bottom, to Tetia's amazement. Qifrey suggests her pen might not be suited for her, and decides to take the girls to The Starry Sword. There, she meets Mr. Nolnoa who gives her a tour, and she glimpses his grandson Tartah but does not get to meet him. He shows her how Silverwood Tree sap is turned into Conjuring Ink. Coco then goes to test Ink Wands to find a good one for her, but is distracted by the Brimmed Hat Iguin standing by the window, and runs out to confront him causing Tetia, Richeh, and Agott to chase after her. Once Agott stops her, however, the girls realize they're no longer in the town Kalhn and have been transported somewhere completely different, likely with forbidden teleportation magic, and there is a dragon after them.

### Trial By Fire

The girls run from the dragon, and despite the danger, when Agott uses fire magic to stave it off, Coco is in awe and begs her to show her what she did once they get away. They find themselves at a dead-end and Tetia begins to panic and looks at Coco as if to blame her, and Coco immediately begins to feel guilty while Agott calms Tetia down and the girls quickly got to work drawing up magic to distract the dragon. Coco, trying to help, sees a glyph on a pillar and tries to get Agott's attention, but ends up ruining the magic she had been drawing and quickly angering the girl who says what Tetia had not, blaming her for the situation they had all been put in.

The girls get moving again but find they are looping when they see a hole in the wall Richeh had made, and it beings to grow dark and cold. Coco, who had been silent, walks over to Tetia who had sat down and begun to shake and hands her hat to her, apologizing for the situation and also lending Tetia her cloak. When Coco calls herself ignorant and useless, Tetia uses magic to create warm clouds and apologizes to Coco for the look she had given her before. Coco is amazed by her magic and compliments her, prompting Tetia to give her cloak back to her, stating her magic isn't as useful either. Agott and Richeh pop into the cloud and ask how they're going to escape, to which Coco states that she'd seen that glyph on the pillar before, and after some time the girls leave the cloud to investigate. Coco comes up with an idea, knowing that it might fail which shocks Agott, but the girls listen and band together to execute it.

Coco says she got inspiration from Tetia's cloud magic, saying that the coziness and warmth of the clouds might attract the dragon, and it may grow lazy and lay down to sleep, in which they can then escape without getting hurt or hurting the dragon. Agott has her doubts, but Coco believes the plan will work better if Agott helps with the magic. With some brainstorming, Agott thinks the clouds should be made of sand, and the girls get to work creating and gathering the sand. Coco decides to watch the girls as they draw their magic and study their technique. When Agott tosses one of her glyphs, Coco studies it and begins drawing it over and over again until the magic is steady, to Tetia's amazement. Agott, seeing Coco's failed attempts, realizes their magic should have repetition signs to work properly. They then cast the magic and the dragon is drawn to the cloud, allowing the girls to head up the spire and to the glyph written on it. They end up erasing the glyph, and the girls get caught up in a whirlwind, the sky above them opening up. The dragon breaks the spire they're standing on and the girls get flung into the air. Coco is held by Iguin, who speaks to her even though she's passed out, then lets her back into the air. Coco wakes up later, surrounded by the girls as well as Qifrey and Tartah. Qifrey wonders if her memory was erased but Coco assures him it wasn't, and then apologizes to everyone. Qifrey assures her that ideas are important as magic, and places her hat back on her head.

After some time, Coco is seen leaning against her window sill, wondering about the pen she had not been able to get, and reflects on her abilities at the time they had faced the dragon. She sits up, assuring herself she's overthinking but collapses, feeling tired. Qifrey sits beside her and Coco explains that she gets sleepy when she thinks about the work she has ahead of her. She exclaims that she's being negative and she'll stop complaining and get back to work, but Qifrey insists she takes a break. He leads her to the kitchen and uses rewinding magic to bring some husk potatoes back to freshness, and asks her to cook one of them. Coco tries a couple of times before she perfects her fireball and cooks it over the flame. Qifrey asks if she's still tired, and explains that magic should be taught by life. Tetia and Richeh make their way into the kitchen, and Coco decides she wants to take the food out for a picnic. Though it's raining outside, Qifrey uses magic to repel it, and the girls eat beneath a bridge. The sky eventually clears up, and Coco runs back to the Atelier to retrieve Agott, but the door opens up to reveal Olruggio who begins to interrogate her. Coco hides in Qifrey's cloak, who explains that Coco is his students and a victim of forbidden magic, which prompts Olruggio to drag her away so as to report her to the Knights Moralis.

Qifrey brings the two in and explains the situation to Olruggio, before introducing him to Coco as the atelier's Watchful Eye as well as explaining what a Watchful Eye does. Olruggio insists she should be taken to the Knights Moralis, to which Qifrey then explains to Coco who they are. Qifrey assures Coco that her situation is not her fault, and that should her memory be erased, so should his. Olruggio begrudgingly accepts her, and Coco is told to take a bath so she doesn't catch a cold. Coco runs after Brushbuddy (Character) so they can take a bath, and ends up following them into Olruggio's section of the atelier. Olruggio grows irritated she followed him in but states it's his fault for not shutting the door and uses his magic to dry the two off. He insists Coco leaves, but Coco grows excited realizing Olruggio has glowstone paths in his room. Olruggio says that magic is his masterpiece, and Coco reflects on the first time she had seen it, thanking Olruggio for giving her her adoration for magic. Moments later, Coco gathers with the others at the entrance to the atelier as someone has come by begging them to help as the rain caused a bridge to collapse, bringing a carriage down with it.

Qifrey and Olruggio decide to bring the girls with them at Agott's insistence. The two quickly handle the problem and save the people who had fallen into the river, and the girls marvel at Qifrey's Raincleaver. They then take Tetia and Richeh to go up and down the stream to assess the damage, leaving Coco and Agott behind. Coco feels awkward but gets to work bandaging the survivors before Custas goes back down into the river and a landslide throws a rock onto his legs and brings Coco sliding down with it. Agott calls to her, asking her if she's okay, and Coco says she is and wonders what she can do to help. Coco lets Agott know the river has slowed but is rising, and her magic supplies have been ruined.

Coco asks Agott for her Link Rings and uses them to dry her magic supplies, but wonders how she'll be able to save Custas while everyone is watching since witches are not allowed to be seen drawing magic in front of the unknowing. Agott uses her own magic to distract the onlookers, allowing Coco to get to work. While she thinks about what to do, Custas awakes and Coco realizes she can use her friend's magic to turn the boulder to sand. By the time onlookers get tired of watching Agott's magic, Coco has finished and flies herself and Custas out of the river bank. Coco hugs Agott, and when Agott asks, Coco explains that she a wall breaker seal to disintegrate the boulder, and is happy to have saved Custas, certain she can save her mother one day as well. Agott begins to say something, but the two end up wrapped in Silverwhite Capture Pennant possessed only by the Knights Moralis. Easthies asks who drew the magic, and at Agott's indignation, he points out that the entire river has turned to sand. Coco is surprised and says that's not the magic she drew, to which Easthies says he will punish her by erasing her memories.

### An Inky Investigation

As Easthies prepares to erase Coco's memory, Agott starts protesting and claiming that it was all a mistake. Just as Coco's memory is about to get wiped, Richeh appears and flings herself into Easthies, stopping the process. Coco and Agott start falling off the cliff before Tetia saves them by creating the Serpent's Bed of Sand underneath them. Tetia yells at Easthies for not listening to Agott and Coco as two members of the Knights Moralis realize that their Silverwhite Capture Pennant's have been burnt by Richeh. Richeh proceeds to glide down the slope of the cliff using her Sylph Shoes as she declares that 'there's nothing I hate more than adults who treat kids like things instead of people'. Tetia checks to make sure that her friends are okay, but Easthies won't give up.

Easthies continues to talk about the careful balance that witches uphold in their world, ending with the statement that no exceptions can be made. As he had been talking, Qifrey came up behind him and poised the raincleaver directly against his neck.

## Relationships

### Qifrey

Qifrey is Coco's professor, the two met when he passed by her mother's clothing shop and subsequently saved her from the forbidden magic she cast. He serves as her guide into the world of witches and magic. Unbeknownst to Coco, Qifrey is using her as a lead to find the Brimmed Hat Witches.

### Agott

Agott is one of Coco's fellow apprentices and another one of Qifrey's pupils. Initially, Agott and Coco's relationship was precarious, as Agott looked down on Coco for being an outsider to the world of witches and being naïve to the practice of magic, something Agott has worked endlessly to perfect. Agott was also the one who made Coco take the first test, the Consent of the Crown, in order for Coco to earn her place in the atelier alongside the other apprentices.

However, Agott and Coco's relationship has improved over time as they worked together. From escaping the Brimmed Hats' dragon to saving the travelers in the carriage, Agott has begun to see Coco as an equal and worthy of being a witch.

### Tetia

Tetia is one of Coco's fellow apprentices and another of Qifrey's pupils and the first of them that Coco met upon arriving at the atelier. As Tetia was already an outgoing and friendly individual to begin with, she and Coco became fast friends.

### Richeh

Richeh is one of Coco's fellow apprentices and another of Qifrey's pupils. Coco admires her individualistic approach to magic and is frequently dazzled by Richeh's creations. In turn, Richeh has discretely shown admiration for Coco's ingenuity when making spells and solving problems, despite her early resistance to acknowledge the spells of others. Richeh has also been visibly moved by the amazement Coco has for her spells.

Richeh has repeatedly shown patience with Coco's inexperience. Due to Richeh's aloof nature, the two of them didn't often engage directly in the early days of Coco's arrival. However, when Coco unwittingly brought the others into the Brimmed Hats' trap and they were confronted with a dragon, Richeh was the only one that didn't lash out at her. She also showed no prejudice towards Coco's escape plan, despite not being close friends with her like Tetia.

When Coco unknowingly pressured her to read a spell book, causing a confrontation between Richeh and Qifrey, Richeh didn't fault her, and opened up about her reservations towards studying when Coco sought her out to apologize.

During the witches' retrial of the Sincerity of the Shield, Richeh readily sided with Coco's plan, showing exasperation towards Agott for the latter's persistent antagonism against the rookie student.