Witch Hunt

"If we acknowledge that an individual with absolute power can abuse it against their opponents, why should we not acknowledge that the majority can do the same?"

Anomaly Story

In the narrowest sense, a "witch hunt" is a collective effort to seek evidence of witchcraft, and accuse and judge alleged "witches"; in a broader sense, it is the act of targeting or even eliminating dissenters within a group under the pretext of exposing evil during a moral crisis, a crisis of faith, or a survival crisis. The judges participating in a witch hunt may become the judged at any moment. Only by tacitly directing their attacks at a minority can they avoid bringing misfortune upon themselves. In such an environment, abnormal emotions begin to grow among the crowd: frenzy, suspicion, blind obedience… When these emotions accumulate to a certain point, the Anomaly known as "Witch Hunt" may be born.

"Witch Hunt" is an invisible Meme Anomaly. Those affected by it fall into a state of frenzy and blind faith, their consciences temporarily suppressed while their darker thoughts are amplified. In this state, people can easily lose their reason, turn resentment toward others into concrete action, and begin an actual trial and execution. Yet the crises people face do not change because of a single witch trial. After a brief period of confusion, they continue to judge the next innocent victim—Witch Hunt can even cloud its victims' minds, making them believe they are guilty.

Witch Hunt is rooted in human thought, and spreads through it as well. After coming into contact with people affected by Witch Hunt, ordinary people gradually become influenced by it, growing fervent and blindly faithful. Those who firmly refuse to participate in the witch hunt often face the fate of being judged as witches or witch co-conspirators. Only when its source—the "crisis" threatening people's daily lives—is eliminated will people end the witch hunt, causing Witch Hunt to undergo Nullification. Before long, however, witch hunts arise elsewhere, and Witch Hunt appears alongside them. This unique characteristic made Witch Hunt impossible to deal with for a long period of time.

A turning point came after a trial that affected a wide area. Because of its devastating consequences, people began to reflect on what the so-called "witches" truly were and what the witch-hunt movement actually meant. As these doubts gradually spread, the frequency of witch-hunting anomaly manifestations declined, and the scale of their influence diminished considerably. With advances in knowledge and technology, people gained more ways to access information and solve problems. They no longer relied on barbaric methods such as witch trials, and the soil that sustained the witch-hunt diminished greatly. It could no longer trigger large-scale crises.

But this does not mean Witch Hunt has disappeared from our era entirely. When the existence of Espers became public knowledge several decades ago, anti-Esper groups emerged in various places, and witch-hunting anomalies began to manifest frequently once more. Trust between humans is fragile. Whenever they encounter changes that existing knowledge cannot explain, and frenzy and blind faith once again become the norm, Witch Hunt will rise again from the depths of human thought.

Anomaly Characteristics

Born from the frenzy and blind faith of crowds, and further intensifies those emotions;

Suppresses the consciences of those affected, making them more likely to turn minor malice into action;

Spreads through interpersonal relationships and is difficult to eradicate.

Anomaly Nexus

The crisis that triggered the initial witch-hunt movement is eliminated, or the people themselves begin to question the movement's true nature.

Risk Assessment

High risk; prone to spreading through crowds.

Containment Status

Cannot currently be contained; its emergence can only be prevented.