Madoka Kaname is a 14-year-old resident of Mitakihara City, standing 152 cm tall with blood type A. She possesses pink hair styled in twin pigtails secured by red ribbons and pink eyes. Her typical civilian attire is her Mitakihara Middle School uniform, featuring a beige blazer with distinctive zigzag detailing and white thigh-high stockings. Her magical girl form undergoes significant evolution: initially, she wears a pink frilly dress adorned with multiple bows, white gloves, red-heeled shoes, and a red choker holding her Soul Gem. In her ultimate form, Ultimate Madoka (the Law of Cycles), her hair lengthens, her eyes shift to gold, and she dons a layered white dress with cosmic motifs, featuring a prominent Soul Gem at the collar. For Walpurgisnacht Rising, her Soul Gem appears as a pink orb centered on her chest ribbon.

Madoka's personality centers on extreme selflessness and compassion, consistently prioritizing others' well-being over her own safety. Initially exhibiting low self-confidence, she believes she lacks inherent value unless helping others, fueling her interest in becoming a magical girl. Despite anxiety in danger, she demonstrates resilience and decisive action, especially when friends face despair. This profound kindness drives all her wishes across multiple timelines, though her specific motivations vary: early wishes often save a cat named Amy from death or aid friends like Sayaka Miki or Nagisa Momoe. Homura Akemi's repeated timeline resets—triggered by Madoka's deaths or transformations into the world-ending witch Kriemhild Gretchen—amplify her latent magical potential through accumulated karmic destiny.

In the final timeline, after witnessing the cyclical suffering of magical girls throughout history, Madoka contracts with Kyubey to rewrite universal laws. Her wish erases all witches past, present, and future by intervening when a magical girl's Soul Gem darkens, transforming Madoka into the Law of Cycles—a cosmic entity purifying Soul Gems before they become witches. This act ascends her to a non-corporeal existence, erasing her human self from reality. Only Homura retains full memory of her, while her brother Tatsuya subconsciously recalls her through drawings.

Following Rebellion, Homura's interference splits Madoka's existence: her unaware human self lives in a rewritten reality, while her suppressed goddess self remains confined. Walpurgisnacht Rising continues from this divergence within Homura's altered world, focusing on Walpurgisnacht's reemergence. Madoka's role involves navigating this fractured state, with trailers hinting at her confronting Homura's actions and potential memory restoration. Key relationships define her journey: her deep bond with childhood friend Sayaka; her mentorship under Mami Tomoe; her fraught dynamic with Homura, whose time loops originated from a promise to protect her; and her familial ties, particularly her reliance on mother Junko for guidance during crises.