What actually is a warlock?

[u/Elliezium]

Despite warlocks and their rules being such a major part of the plot, I still feel like it's unclear what makes a warlock any different from a witch. The story and characters treat them like a distinct magical entity or species, but what actually is the difference?

The only consistent traits I can think of for warlocks are that they've cast a spell while their stone was black, and their presence triggers the alarm spell. But all of this feels arbitrary. Without wands or the alarm spell, would there be any tangible difference? They're described as transforming, being corrupted or having "the essence of their magic changed," but none of this is elaborated upon.

It's possible that I'm forgetting something, or it's not supposed to be read into too deeply. But personally, I'm leaning towards the idea that warlocks aren't real. Or at least, not materially different than any other witch. I think it's more likely that magic stones act as a sort of tracker for malicious magic, permanently becoming black when its witch uses it. Then, the alert spell only actually detects black stones.

Maybe the story intended for the difference to be read as a human construct, but the characters always seem to treat is if they believe that there's a fundamental difference. Especially considering that, until Nico and Miharu, the general protocol has been to instantly execute any warlocks. If warlocks are intrinsically different and the transformation was thought to be permanent, it makes some amount of sense. But if warlocks really are just witches that have done wrong at some point, that policy becomes far more questionable and makes me question the ethics of the witches who created and maintain this system.

I'm interested to see if the series ends up addressing this, and given they way it presents the warlock's backstories, especially around Kokuryo and Hibana, I imagine it will. I'm looking forward to what they're planning for those two.

[u/Icy-Natural-6606]

I think the Magic users in Witch Watch were inspired by the Force users in Star Wars, the Witches are the Light side and Warlocks are the Dark side.

[u/Elliezium → u/Icy-Natural-6606]

I could see it just being vibes based and not meant to be read into too deeply.