# The Top Witches **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097 "2016-01-14T01:59:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/101 "2016-01-22T17:33:18Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > Granny Weatherwax \> Nanny Ogg \> Magrat Garlick \> Perdita X > > I have regretfully not found any of the Tiffany Aching novels here at the local bookstore. I REALLY need to get them ordered, as they are the only Discworld novels I haven’t yet read. I continually re-read all of the Sam Vimes books and the stories of the witches- I absolutely love Granny Weatherwax’s take on the world, and Nanny Ogg, as described, is absolutely, without-a-doubt my grandmother. Check in the kid’s lit section. They’re often not shelved with the rest of his Disc novels. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/102 "2016-01-22T18:22:42Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Gillian Holroyd You took mine. Seeing as no one has mentioned her, Malificent. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/103 "2016-01-22T19:10:57Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Seeing as no one has mentioned her, Malificent. Post #23, but spelled correctly. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/104 "2016-01-22T19:32:40Z")
Probably why I didn’t find it when I searched. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/105 "2016-01-22T19:32:50Z")
Hard to ignore Veronica Lake. But everyone remembers the wicked witch of the west, and no one mentioned Margaret Hamilton, who gave us all nightmares (and made up for it by selling us coffee to keep us awake). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/106 "2016-01-22T19:33:53Z")
^ What a world! What a world! ---
**Author:** ![Allisonthebaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Allisonthebaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allisonthebaker)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/107 "2018-10-30T20:30:36Z")
1. Someone from the Salem Witch Trials [/QUOTE] Hey, They were not witches! One was the nanny of the accusing sisters. I can’t remember which ‘witch’ was the nanny, but it’s well documented. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/108 "2018-10-30T20:58:44Z")
Well, since this thread has been revived, I might as well mention both Agnes Nutter and her descendant, Anathema Device. Agnes didn’t resist at all when she was dragged off to be burned at the stake. She had known it was coming, of course. And had therefore hidden small kegs of gunpowder and nails underneath her skirt. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/109 "2018-10-30T21:10:50Z")
As far as top witches, it seems hard to beat Dr. Johann Faustus. He even allegedly died in a freaky alchemical explosion, subsequent to which the devil came to collect him in person. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/110 "2018-10-30T21:25:29Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Speaking of _Bewitched_, if we can count “warlocks” from that show, I always had a fondness for Dr. Bombay, played by the delightful Bernard Fox. Three pages, and no one’s mentioned Samantha’s father, Maurice (played by Maurice Evans)? ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/111 "2018-10-30T22:50:14Z")
Granny Weatherwax, Tiffany Aching, Nanny Ogg and her companion GREEBO! (Especially for the brief time he was turned human, before his bad catliness took him back. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/112 "2018-10-30T22:59:30Z")
Larissa of Thessaly, from the _Sandman_ comics. She has an entertaining shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later attitude. (Literally: she will kill you, then interrogate your ghost.) Morgana/Morgause/Morgan le Fay, particularly as portrayed by Helen Mirren and Eva Green. I don’t know how faithful it was to the folklore, but I kind of liked Baba Yaga as portrayed in _Bartok the Magnificent._ ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/113 "2018-10-30T23:28:08Z")
Asajj Ventress from the clone wars never really gets mentioned, so I’m putting her name out. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/114 "2018-11-01T04:21:08Z")
1.) Virginia Matuchek from Poul Anderson’s novels _Operation Chaos_ and _Operation Luna_ 2.) Tansy Saylor from Fritz Leiber’s novel _Conjure Wife_. Ol’ Norman ain’t bad either. 3.) Keziah Mason from Lovecraft’s short story “The Dreams in the Witch-House” 4.) Agatha Harkness from Marvel Comics 5.) Could any witch be more enchanting then Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak) in “Bell, Book, and Candle?” 6.) Empress Jadis from the Narnia books 7.) Morgan LeFay from the Arthurian Mythos 8.) Let’s have a three-for-one deal: Maleen, Goth, and the Leewit from James Schmitz’s the Witches of Karres, either the short story or the novel. 9.) Kelly Hollister from the comic Soulsearchers 10.) I saved the best for last: Thessaly from the Sandman comic ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/115 "2018-11-03T16:39:13Z")
No mention of [Witch Marge](http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Witch_Marge) from the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror VIII “Easy-Bake Coven”? ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/116 "2018-11-05T03:17:58Z")
Serafina Pekkla from the His Dark Materials books by Phillip Pullman. I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Samantha and the Wicked Witch of the West. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/117 "2018-11-05T03:34:20Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Granny would be #1 for me, or better still the Granny Weatherwax/Nanny Ogg/Magrat coven. I’m surprised **Lamia** didn’t mention [Lamia](http://stardust.wikia.com/wiki/Lamia). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/118 "2018-11-05T12:18:50Z")
She’s probably named after the mythological creature, not any specific individual. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/119 "2018-11-05T18:59:55Z")
Rachel Morgan from \*The Hollows Stories \*of [Kim Harrison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Harrison) ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097/120 "2018-11-05T20:13:51Z")
Samantha Stephens would top my list! A close second would be Catherine Hicks as Amanda Tucker in the short-lived TV series “Tucker’s Witch”, which only lasted for twelve episodes in the 1982-1983 season. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-witches/743097.md?page=7)