While UQ Holder can usually be a stand-alone title, both the manga and anime are constantly referencing back to past characters and events from its prequel series, Negima! It can be rather confusing with little to no prior knowledge of its predecessor. Negima did not have an anime series that covered the true plot, leaving only the manga as a reliable source.
This guide is for those who need clarification and explaining of the events that happened in Negima.
It will contain massive spoilers for both the plot and characters, so please be warned.
I also advise you do go and read the manga instead, as it is absolutely a fantastic read.
Overview:
Negima! is about Negi Springfield. a 10-year old boy genius who strives to be a great mage like his father, Nagi Springfield, a man who was considered the strongest mage of all time. Negi's main goal is to find his father, who was proclaimed dead to the world 10 years previous, but after demons attack Negi's village when he was four, his father, The Thousand Master, rescued his son from being petrified. Nagi managed to defeat the demons and save Negi, but many of the townsfolk had been turned to stone with powerful magic, absolutely incurable from even the best healers. Nagi soon left, saying farewell to his son and gifting Negi his staff. Because of this, Negi realized the rumors of his death were false and became obsessed with finding his father.
After graduating a magic-oriented school, Negi Springfield, the main character of the series, is tasked with becoming a teacher of a junior-high class at an all-girls school; this will be apart of his training to become a Magister Magi, a title given to those who have become master mages and use their powers for the good of the world.
Negi goes to the school, Mahora Academy, and meets the girls who will forever impact his future. Despite what it seems, many of the students in Negi's class have their own secrets or are somehow tied to their teacher in one form or another.
Characters:
Negima is unique is the sense that none of the students in the class are unimportant. Each is expanded upon and has their own personality, likes, etc. Characters outside of the classroom are also important, so with such a big cast, there's a lot to go over. I won't be going over every detail and backstory of the characters, just a the important notes to help explain their ties to UQ Holder.
Negi Springfield:
Negi is the protagonist of Negima and is a mage-in-training who is tasked with teaching a junior high class of girls before becoming a full mage. Not only is he able to befriend his students, but many of them become part of his group and others join his growing harem. Negi is considered a genius, when it comes to book smarts and at the rate of mastering techniques at a fast pace.
One of his major goals is finding who father, who is said to be dead, but after a brief run-in during his childhood, Negi is determined to find the whereabouts of his missing relative.
Along the way, Negi meets Fate, another boy with an incredible amount of power. Negi asks the imfamous vampire, Evangeline, who has been cursed to reside at Mahora, to be his teacher to get stronger. After a series of events, Negi travels to the magic world with several of his students to gather more information of his father. There, he runs into Fate once again and after Fate headed a terroist attack, Negi is determined to foil his plans.
During his time on the Magic World, Negi meets his father's old ally, Jack Rakan, who Negi trains with to become stronger. Through Jack, Negi is able to get his hands on a powerful spell made by Evangeline in the past. He chose to master it but it would end up costing him his humanity and he would later fall to its strain and became an immortal monster.
Negi would also learn Fate it not the final boss, but works for the Mage of Beginning, a foe his father faced in the past. This entity wants to forcibly remove the various occupants of the Magic World and put them in a place where only peace resides as the Magic World is doomed to exist. Negi has a different plan in mind and convinces Fate to join his side.
Throughout his adult years, he connects the energy to the Magic World and Earth with the help of various classmates and an elevator connecting the two worlds is built.
Asuna Kagurazaka:
Asuna is the main heroine of Negima and is the first to discover Negi's hidden identity as a mage. Though not particularly fond of him at first, he begins to care for the boy and becomes an essential part of his team and one of his most cherished friends.
Asuna is an orphan with little to no memory of her early days before attending Mahora. She seem to have an incredible amount of strength for a junior high girl, and her senses are the chart. One of her unique features is her ability to seemingly cancel magic, a trait that is beyond rare.
Though unbeknownst to her, Asuna is actually from the Magic World and was born into a royal family, one who has the power of canceling magic in their bloodline. Due to this, Asuna was used by organizations during times of war for years and because of that, she is being targeted by Fate. With her power, Asuna is able to stop the Mage of Beginning once and for all.
Asuna was a vital part of helping Negi save the Magic World and by staying in a comatose-state for 100 years, she was able to use her power to prevent the Magic World from being destroyed. However, this means she is absent from her friend's lives after junior high.
Fate Averruncus:
Fate is considered one of the main antagonists of the series, often going up against Negi and his team and becomes borderline obsessed with him. Despite his young appearance, Fate is not human and has been recreated numerous times. He serves the Mage of Beginning and his goal is to move the inhabitants of the Magic World to a fantasia against their will as they will be erased from existence if the Magic World were to perish.
When Negi approaches with a new plan, Fate eventually agrees to Negi's plan and becomes a vital part of saving the Magic World in the future.
Evangeline A.K. McDowell:
Evangeline is an immortal vampire that has lived for hundreds of years and is quite infamous in the magic community, often the monster in children's fairy tales. She is considered one of the strongest beings on Earth.
Unfortunately, for many years, she was forced to take many lives, so she chose to live an isolated lives where every person hated her. When Nagi Springfield once saved her from a village attacking her, she soon developed feelings for him and began tagging along with him. Nagi decided it would be best for Evangeline to live in the world of light and used a spell to seal her at Mahora Academy with the intention of coming back in the future and undoing it, but as 15 years past, he never came back.
When Negi came to Mahora, Evangeline was seen as his enemy, but after a series of events, he came her apprentice and Evangeline began reteaching him the fundamentals of magic. Negi was able to grow significantly stronger and was taught that there is no set path for "good" and "evil". Due to this, Negi would choose to take the same path of darkness his master had.
In the past, Evangeline created a spell called Magia Erebea. It was very powerful, but came at the risk of the user. It allowed a mage to absorb magic into their own body, becoming a vessel to many powerful attacks. Only she and Negi were holders of the spell.
Mage of Beginning:
Considered the "final boss", the Mage of Beginning is a powerful force that goes beyond reason. Its goal is to wipe out every shred of pain in the world, even if it must do so by force.
The Mage of Beginning is responsible for Evangeline's transformation as a vampire, as she was taken and used as an experiment. The MoB is not exactly human, rather, it will slowly possess those who defeat it and will eventually be able to take over their mind, allow it to use its host's powers in the process. When the Mage of Beginning was defeated by Nagi Springfield, he would eventually be taken over. Negi would discover this and would have to eventually defeat his father.