Sekhmet is terrifying. Most people watching Re:Zero for the first time expect the Witch of Sloth to be some kind of immobile, harmless lump, but Tappei Nagatsuki really flipped the script on that one. Honestly, she might be the most raw, physically overwhelming force among the Witches of Sin, excluding the Witch of Envy herself. If you’ve been following the light novels or the anime, you know the Sanctuary arc introduces us to these legendary figures, and Sekhmet—purple hair, tired eyes, and a literal inability to stand up—is the one who keeps the others in line.
She’s a contradiction. She breathes like it's a chore.
What most people get wrong about Sekhmet’s Authority
When we think of "Sloth" in the world of Re:Zero, our minds immediately jump to Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti and his Unseen Hands. It’s a messy, violent power. But the Witch of Sloth, Sekhmet, operates on a completely different level of physics. Her Authority doesn’t just sprout limbs; it manipulates the very concept of "heaviness" and "pressure."
Think about the sheer scale of what she does. In the light novels, specifically during the tea parties in Echidna’s dream castle, Sekhmet is the one who puts the other Witches in their place. When Minerva gets too rowdy or Typhon starts acting up, Sekhmet just... sighs. And then the atmosphere collapses. It’s described as an invisible force that slams targets into the ground with so much weight they can't even blink. It’s not just a punch; it’s like the world decided it didn't want you to exist in a standing position anymore.
She fought the Divine Dragon, Volcanica, past the waterfall at the edge of the world. Just imagine that for a second. A woman who finds the act of living exhausting went toe-to-toe with the world’s guardian deity. She didn't win, but she didn't exactly lose either; she fell off the edge of the world because she was too tired to keep moving. That's the vibe Sekhmet brings to the table.
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The tragic history behind the purple hair
Sekhmet didn't choose to be this way. Her backstory is one of the darkest "experiments" in the lore. She was created by a tribe of giants who wanted to revive their god. They experimented on her, treated her like a tool, and when she finally snapped, she didn't just kill them—she ended their entire race. This wasn't out of malice, really. It was more about finding a way to finally be left alone.
It’s interesting how Nagatsuki handles her character design. She’s often depicted with incredibly long, unkempt purple hair that functions almost like a blanket. Her clothes are ragged. She looks like she hasn't slept in a millennium, which, to be fair, is basically her brand. But there is a motherly side to her. She treats the other witches like troublesome children. In the Echidna tea party scenes, she’s the one providing a weird sort of stability to the group, even if that stability comes in the form of threatening to crush everyone if they don't shut up.
Subaru’s interaction with her is a masterclass in tension. He goes into these meetings expecting monsters, and he finds a woman who is so lazy she uses her Unseen Providence (or her version of it) just to move her hair out of her face. But that’s the trap. You let your guard down because she looks pathetic, and then you realize you’re in the presence of a being who killed all the giants in the world just so she could take a nap.
Why Sloth is different from the other Sins
If you compare her to someone like Regulus Corneas (Greed) or even Sirius (Wrath), Sekhmet is remarkably passive. She doesn't have a grand plan. She doesn't want to conquer the world or find a "king." She just wants to rest. This makes her one of the most relatable yet alien characters in the series.
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- She is the only Witch who can reliably intimidate Echidna.
- Her Authority is so powerful it can strike targets she can't even see, provided they are within her "range" of influence.
- She describes the act of "breathing" as a rhythmic pain.
Most fans debate who would win in a fight between the Witches. While Satella is the obvious answer because of her immortality and time-fuckery, Sekhmet is widely considered the runner-up in terms of pure combat viability. She doesn't need to move. She doesn't need to chant. She just exists, and the gravity around her does the work.
How to analyze Sekhmet’s role in the Sanctuary
In the anime’s second season, we see her mostly as a bystander, but her presence is a literal weight on the narrative. She represents the "end" of effort. When Subaru is struggling, dying, and looping repeatedly, Sekhmet stands as the ultimate counter-philosophy. Why try? Why move?
It's a subtle thematic mirror. Subaru's Sloth (when he gives up) is a choice made out of despair. Sekhmet's Sloth is her natural state of being, a byproduct of her sheer power and her traumatic past. She is what happens when you have the power to stop the world from bothering you.
Practical takeaways for Re:Zero lore buffs
If you're trying to keep the power scaling straight in your head, remember that Sekhmet is the "Police" of the Witches. If things get out of hand, she’s the one who ends the conflict.
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To truly understand her character, you should look at the "Web Novel" vs. "Light Novel" descriptions of her fight with Volcanica. The details vary slightly, but the core remains: she is a dragon-level threat who simply lacks the motivation to act on it.
- Pay attention to her hands. In the anime, they are rarely shown, emphasizing that she does everything through her invisible Authority.
- Watch her eyes. They aren't just tired; they are vacant. She has seen the end of the world and found it too exhausting to care about.
- Don't mistake her "kindness" for morality. She helps Subaru, but it's often because helping him is the path of least resistance to getting him out of her hair.
The next time you see her on screen or read her dialogue, remember that every word she speaks is an effort she’d rather not be making. That makes her "advice" to Subaru surprisingly heavy. When she tells him to keep going or warns him about the other Witches, she’s spending her most precious resource—energy—to do it.
Moving forward with the Witch of Sloth
To get the full picture of Sekhmet, you really need to dive into the Re:Zero Side Stories, specifically the ones covering the era 400 years ago. Her relationship with the other Witches, particularly her "sisterly" bond with Typhon, adds layers of tragedy to her character that the main series only hints at.
Start by re-reading the "Tea Party" chapters in Volume 12 of the Light Novel. Look for the descriptions of the atmosphere when she moves. It’s a masterclass in showing, not just telling, how powerful a character can be. From there, compare her version of Sloth to the "Sloth" exhibited by the Archbishops. You'll see that while the Archbishops are twisted shadows of the Sins, the original Witches like Sekhmet are the Sins in their purest, most devastating form.