Phoebe Halliwell
Encyclopedia
Phoebe Halliwell is a fictional character from the television series Charmed
. One of the featured leads
, Phoebe is introduced in the series as a witch and, more specifically, a Charmed One one of the most powerful witches of all time. The character was portrayed by Lori Rom
in the unaired pilot, and later Alyssa Milano
throughout the entire series run. In 2008, AOL
named Phoebe the seventh greatest witch in television history.
During the first three seasons, Phoebe is shown as the youngest and most rebellious of the Halliwell sisters. She later becomes the middle sister after Prue Halliwell
is killed and the series introduces her younger half-sister Paige Matthews
. One of the reoccurring struggles for Phoebe as a character is her attempt to find a career and true love while achieving her destiny of defeating the forces of evil in San Francisco. In addition to the television series, the character has also appeared in numerous expanded universe
material, such as the Charmed novels and its comic book adaptation
.
in all of the show's aired 178 episodes. Phoebe is portrayed by Lori Rom
in the unaired pilot. At the start of season one (1998-1999), six months have passed since the death of her grandmother, Penelope Halliwell (nee Johnson)
(Jennifer Rhodes
), and a jobless Phoebe returns from New York City and moves back into her family's Victorian Manor
with her two sisters Prue
(Shannen Doherty
) and Piper Halliwell
(Holly Marie Combs
). On the night of Phoebe's return, the sisters find a book of spells
within the Manor's attic. After Phoebe recites an incantation from the book, the three sisters each receive a magical power and discover their destiny as The Charmed Ones – the most powerful good witches the world has ever known. Phoebe obtains the power to "see the future
" which contrasts with her known reckless persona. Because of her free-spirited nature Phoebe often comes into major conflicts with Prue during the first season of the series — this is especially so in regards to their witchcraft. Initially drawn apart due to Prue's speculation of Phoebe being the cause of her failed engagement to Roger (Matthew Ashford
), the two sisters mend their relationship over the course of season one.
In season two (1999-2000), Phoebe is seen re-entering college and majoring in psychology. She continues to embrace her destiny as a witch and is noted by her sisters as being the best at writing new spells. In the absence of an active power, Phoebe becomes progressively adapt at martial arts in order to better fight demons and warlocks
. Throughout the season, Phoebe struggles to open herself up to love and attempts to find a love interest who can live up to her "ideal guy" as portrayed in her favorite in-verse movie, Kill It Before It Dies by the character Billy (Chris Payne Gilbert
). In the show's third season (2000-2001), Phoebe develops the active power of Levitation
and enters a relationship with Cole Turner
(Julian McMahon
), who is actually the demon mercenary Belthazor that has been hired to kill The Charmed Ones. Upon this discovery Phoebe struggles between her loyalty to her sisters and her love for Cole. After a tumultuous love affair, often deterred due to Cole's frequent struggle between good and evil, and still managing to graduate from college Phoebe ventures into The Underworld to save Cole from his dark side and unwittingly becomes a pawn to the Source of All Evil. When her sisters become exposed as witches in the mortal world, Phoebe makes a deal with the Source to save Piper's life not knowing that he plans to double cross her in the end.
The opening episode of the fourth season (2001-2002), "Charmed Again (Part 1)", reveals that Phoebe was rescued from the Underworld by her Whitelighter
Leo Wyatt
(Brian Krause
) and her boyfriend Cole. It also revealed that they were only able to make it back in time to heal Piper of her injuries from the season three finale while Prue was unable to be saved. Later in the episode, while attending Prue's funeral, Phoebe meets Paige Matthews
(Rose McGowan
) and receives a premonition of the woman being attacked by the same demon that killed Prue. This incident leads to Phoebe and Piper discovering that Paige is their younger half-sister. By the end of the season premiere, Paige helps to restore "The Power of Three" and vanquish Shax. During this season, Phoebe finds herself maturing into the role of the "middle sister" as she attempts to play mediator between Piper and Paige. Alongside continuing her Charmed role, Phoebe receives a marriage proposal from Cole, accepting after he becomes stripped of his demon half. Phoebe eventually pens the spell to vanquish the Source, whom escapes a final vanquish by possessing the now human Cole. For the remainder of the season, Phoebe plans to marry Cole unaware that he has become the new Source of All Evil and ruler of The Underworld. After being tricked by Cole and The Seer
(Debbie Morgan) into participating in a dark marriage ceremony, Phoebe lands a job as an advice columnist for the newspaper The Bay Mirror. Soon after she discovers that she is pregnant and subsequently chooses to join Cole as his queen in The Underworld.
As season four draws to a close, Phoebe is forced to choose between her husband and her sisters. She mournfully sides with her sisters to vanquish Cole. Later, her unborn child is magically stolen by The Seer who claims that the child is rightfully hers and never belonged to Phoebe or Cole. About to be sacrificed as human offerings during The Seer's coronation as the new Source, Phoebe and her sisters tap into "The Power of Three" and vanquish The Seer and the entire Underworld council. In the season finale, the Angel of Destiny (Dakin Matthews
) visits and gives the sisters an offer to live a normal life without magical powers or the threat of demons. After some contemplation Phoebe declines alongside her sisters. For season five (2002-2003), Phoebe attempts to live a life without Cole where she can focus on her career. This plan is stunted when a resurrected Cole returns to San Francisco eager to reconcile with Phoebe. After a series of attempts to win back Phoebe's affections, even trying to seduce her to evil once again, Cole is vanquished in the 100th episode of the series, "Centennial Charmed". Later in the season, Phoebe helps to deliver Piper and Leo's first child, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell. Soon after she begins a romantic relationship with her new boss, multi-millionaire Jason Dean (Eric Dane
).
In season six (2003-2004), Phoebe continues her relationship with Jason and also sees her magical abilities expand to include the power of Empathy
. Phoebe eventually becomes more serious with Jason, moving with him to Hong Kong, China. After a year of dating, Jason discovers Phoebe's secret identity as a witch by accident and unable to handle the revelation breaks up with her. Phoebe subsequently moves back to San Francisco and into the Manor. In the episode, "The Legend of Sleepy Halliwell" Phoebe experiences a vision quest
and not only discovers that her new time-traveling Whitelighter Chris Perry
(Drew Fuller
) is actually Chris Halliwell and the second child of Piper and Leo, but that she is also destined to have a child of her own. This puts Phoebe on a selfish path of using her psychic powers to find the father of her child and dump her Charmed duties onto her sisters. Because of her actions, Phoebe is stripped of her powers of Premonition, Levitation, and Empathy by a Tribunal Council made up of both high-powered demons
and Elders. In the sixth season finale, the sisters, Leo and Chris discover that a powerful Elder named Gideon
(Gildart Jackson) wishes to destroy the Twice-Blessed Wyatt, an act which causes Wyatt to turn his back on good in the future.
At the start of season seven (2004-2005), Phoebe is still stripped of her powers. She begins to feel disconnected from her audience and takes a sabbatical from work and is temporarily replaced by a ghost-writer Leslie St. Claire (Nick Lachey
). Phoebe and Leslie enter a brief romance, but it doesn't last as Leslie eventually moves to Los Angeles. In the fifth episode of the season, "Styx Feet Under", Phoebe regains her power of Premonitions. In mid-season, in the hopes of having a demon-free life, Phoebe and her sisters join forces with The Avatars
, powerful beings who are neither good nor evil, in their plan to turn the world into a utopia. Phoebe is the first of the sisters to regret this when her Premonition powers show her how much the world has been robbed of its free will. The Charmed Ones team up with an upper-level demon, Zankou (Oded Fehr
) to defeat The Avatars. However, Zankou then turns on the sisters becoming their adversary for the remainder of the season. During this season Cole, while stuck in Limbo, arranges for the good-natured demon Drake De'mon (Billy Zane
) to enter Phoebe's life and keep her from giving up on love. In the season seven finale, during a suicide mission to vanquish Zankou, Phoebe and her sisters fake their deaths in order to escape the constant threat of demon attacks as well as police and government investigations.
For the eighth and final season (2005-2006), Phoebe takes on the false identity of Julie Bennett (Monica Allgeier) and begins a relationship with an artist named Dex Lawson (Jason Lewis). While under the influence of a spell cast by the prodigy of the Charmed Ones, Billie Jenkins
(Kaley Cuoco
), Phoebe marries Dex under the alias of Julie. Unsure if she could ever have a lasting marriage with someone she isn't completely honest with, Phoebe reveals the truth of her hidden identity to Dex. The pair eventually agree to get an annulment. When Phoebe discovers that Billie and her sister, Christy Jenkins
(Marnette Patterson
) are the ultimate power The Charmed Ones must defeat to save Leo from the Angel of Death (Simon Templeman
), she has reservations because the women are human and not demons. In the end, Phoebe willing participates in the ultimate battle between The Charmed Ones and the Jenkins sisters. In the series finale, it is revealed that Phoebe falls in love with and marries a cupid named Coop (Victor Webster
), who was initially sent by The Elders to help Phoebe find love again. Their marriage will produce three children, all daughters. Phoebe also becomes a successful author, writing a self-help book on finding love.
with the series or each other, and are often considered to be non-canon
. However, the television series producers have final approval of everything in the novels, which could indicate the literature fitting into the established canon of the series and the so-called "Charmed universe". Phoebe's first appearance in Charmed literature takes place within the novel The Power of Three by Eliza Willard on November 1, 1999, which acts as a novelised version of the series premiere episode. Her last appearance in a Charmed novel takes place within Trickery Treat by Diana G. Gallagher
on January 1, 2008.
In 2010, Charmed gained an officially licensed continuation in the form of a comic book
, which is often billed as Charmed Season 9
. The series is published monthly by Zenescope Entertainment. Set eighteen-months after the series finale, the sisters are seen living happy demon free lives and have each entered into motherhood. Phoebe has had her first daughter with her husband Coop, whom is named Prudence Johnna and nicknamed P.J. by Grams. Phoebe is also seen preparing to return to work as an advice columnist for The Bay Mirror. In the second issue of the comic, Phoebe regains her previously stripped powers of Levitation and Empathy. In Issue #6 of the comic, Morality Bites Back, Phoebe learns that she used Advanced Empathy to murder Cal Greene in a previously visited future of February 26, 2009 by reflecting his emotions back onto him which caused his brain to overload.
) Phoebe is able to realize that the same day is repeating over and over again because of her premonition powers.
By season five, her power evolves to enable her to experience aspects of astral projection allowing her to interact with the environment of her premonitions. This aspect of her power is highlighted in the season five episodes, "The Eyes Have It" and "Sand Francisco Dreamin'" as well as the season eight episode "Hulkus Pocus". Her premonition powers also evolve to allow Phoebe to anticipate the actions of others as in many instances Phoebe has sidestepped and jumped out the way of incoming fireballs and energy balls with perfect timing. Examples of this can be seen in the season seven episodes "Freaky Phoebe" where Phoebe is able to sense a demon who is behind her with a pair of scissors, and in the episode "Ordinary Witches", where Ronnie (Brian Howe
), a cab driver Phoebe loses her powers to, is able to sense when and where the next fireball of a demon is going to be launched using her power of premonitions. Phoebe also develops the power to trigger a vision in someone else with similar powers, "sharing" visions with Elders and knowing how to trigger a specific "trap" premonition in the evil witch Mitzy (Jenny McCarthy
), who has temporary possession of her powers. Kira (Charisma Carpenter
), a powerful demonic seer, tells Phoebe her powers were once limited to psychometry but they grew, like Phoebe's will in time.
In the season two episode, "Morality Bites", when the sisters travel to the future, it is revealed that Phoebe uses a magical power to kill a man named Cal Greene out of revenge. In the Charmed comics, Issue #6 Morality Bites Back, Phoebe learns that this power is an advanced form of empathy. Phoebe discovers that her empathy powers grow to allow her to incapacitate or even kill another person. In the comics, Phoebe realizes that she murders Cal Greene by reflecting his emotions back onto him, flooding his mind with painful emotions, which causes his brain to overload.
, which had produced the network's most successful series 7th Heaven
, to create it. Expanding on the popularity of supernatural-themed dramas, the production company explored forms of mythology
to find mythological characters they could focus on with contemporary storytelling. In order to create the series, Constance M. Burge
was hired as the creator as she was under contract with 20th Century Fox and Spelling Television after conceiving the drama Savannah
.
The character of Phoebe Halliwell was conceived by Burge, who wrote the pilot script for Charmed. The pilot script was based around three mismatched sisters who are initially based on Burge and her two older sisters, Laura and Edie Burge. Phoebe is based on Burge herself. On creating the Halliwell sisters, Burge states "Phoebe was honestly the easiest. It just grew from within." Executive Producer Brad Kern
claims Phoebe is written into the series as the classic younger sibling and states that at the start of series Phoebe is "trying to find her own identity by living life large and not really having a care in the world."
When the series was in its first development stages, actress Lori Rom
was cast in the role of Phoebe. Rom played the role in a 28-minute test pilot (the "unaired pilot", never aired on network television) with which the series was picked up by The WB. Rom later pulled out from the series before a 45-minute version of the pilot could be filmed for proper network television, leaving the role of Phoebe vacant. TV producer Aaron Spelling
then turned to actress Alyssa Milano
, who was previously cast in another television series produced by Spelling Television, Melrose Place. While Milano was in Hawaii shooting an episode for Fantasy Island, Spelling phoned Milano and asked her to consider joining the series. After receiving a copy of the original pilot and the script, five days later Milano began shooting the re-shot pilot episode.
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
. One of the featured leads
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, Phoebe is introduced in the series as a witch and, more specifically, a Charmed One one of the most powerful witches of all time. The character was portrayed by Lori Rom
Lori Rom
Lori Rom is an American actress.Rom attended Carnegie Mellon University's drama conservatory, where she also worked through school...
in the unaired pilot, and later Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Jayne Milano is an American actress and former singer, known for her childhood role as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? and an eight-year stint as Phoebe Halliwell on the series Charmed. She was also a series regular on the original Melrose Place portraying the role of...
throughout the entire series run. In 2008, AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
named Phoebe the seventh greatest witch in television history.
During the first three seasons, Phoebe is shown as the youngest and most rebellious of the Halliwell sisters. She later becomes the middle sister after Prue Halliwell
Prue Halliwell
Prudence "Prue" Halliwell is a fictional character from the television series Charmed. Prue is depicted as one of the featured leads as she fulfills her role as a witch and, more specifically, a Charmed One one of the most powerful witches of all time...
is killed and the series introduces her younger half-sister Paige Matthews
Paige Matthews
Paige Matthews is a fictional character from the television series Charmed. One of the featured leads, Paige is introduced at the start of season four as the fourth Halliwell sister and youngest Charmed One one of the most powerful witches of all time. The character was portrayed by Rose McGowan...
. One of the reoccurring struggles for Phoebe as a character is her attempt to find a career and true love while achieving her destiny of defeating the forces of evil in San Francisco. In addition to the television series, the character has also appeared in numerous expanded universe
Expanded Universe
The term Expanded Universe is generally used to denote the 'extension' of a media franchise with other media...
material, such as the Charmed novels and its comic book adaptation
Charmed (comic book)
Charmed is comic book that is an officially licensed continuation of the popular The WB television series of the same name, which ended its eight year run in 2006. The series is published monthly by Zenescope Entertainment. The comic book serves as a continuation set eighteen months after the...
.
Television
Phoebe enters the series as the youngest Halliwell sister and is portrayed by Alyssa MilanoAlyssa Milano
Alyssa Jayne Milano is an American actress and former singer, known for her childhood role as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? and an eight-year stint as Phoebe Halliwell on the series Charmed. She was also a series regular on the original Melrose Place portraying the role of...
in all of the show's aired 178 episodes. Phoebe is portrayed by Lori Rom
Lori Rom
Lori Rom is an American actress.Rom attended Carnegie Mellon University's drama conservatory, where she also worked through school...
in the unaired pilot. At the start of season one (1998-1999), six months have passed since the death of her grandmother, Penelope Halliwell (nee Johnson)
Penny Halliwell
Penelope Halliwell is a recurring, supporting fictional character from the WB television series Charmed that acts in our world from beyond death....
(Jennifer Rhodes
Jennifer Rhodes
Jennifer Rhodes is an American actress whose career spans four decades.- Life and career :Jennifer Rhodes grew up in Rosiclare, Illinois, a small town on the Ohio River.She also has one sister, Kim Rhodes. She became interested in theater while attending Southern Illinois University and moved to...
), and a jobless Phoebe returns from New York City and moves back into her family's Victorian Manor
Halliwell Manor
Halliwell Manor is a fictional house, an important setting for the WB television series Charmed. Members of the Halliwell family have owned the Manor property for four generations...
with her two sisters Prue
Prue Halliwell
Prudence "Prue" Halliwell is a fictional character from the television series Charmed. Prue is depicted as one of the featured leads as she fulfills her role as a witch and, more specifically, a Charmed One one of the most powerful witches of all time...
(Shannen Doherty
Shannen Doherty
Shannen Maria Doherty is an American actress, producer, author and television director, known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers , as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spinoff series 90210, and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed .-Early life and career:Doherty was born in Memphis,...
) and Piper Halliwell
Piper Halliwell
Piper Halliwell is a fictional character from the television series Charmed. One of the featured leads, Piper is introduced in the series as a witch and, more specifically, a Charmed One one of the most powerful witches of all time. The character was portrayed by Holly Marie Combs throughout the...
(Holly Marie Combs
Holly Marie Combs
Holly Marie Combs is an American film and television actress and producer whose roles have included a portrayal in Charmed as Piper Halliwell and another in Picket Fences, where she received a Young Artist Award for her role, as Kimberly Brock...
). On the night of Phoebe's return, the sisters find a book of spells
Book of Shadows (Charmed)
The Book of Shadows, or simply "the Book", is a fictional book of witchcraft from the TV series Charmed. In the beginning, the book was created by Melinda Warren and was passed down the family to the Charmed Ones. This book contains spells, incantations, potions and information of the evil beings...
within the Manor's attic. After Phoebe recites an incantation from the book, the three sisters each receive a magical power and discover their destiny as The Charmed Ones – the most powerful good witches the world has ever known. Phoebe obtains the power to "see the future
Precognition
In parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...
" which contrasts with her known reckless persona. Because of her free-spirited nature Phoebe often comes into major conflicts with Prue during the first season of the series — this is especially so in regards to their witchcraft. Initially drawn apart due to Prue's speculation of Phoebe being the cause of her failed engagement to Roger (Matthew Ashford
Matthew Ashford
Matthew Nile Ashford is an American actor best known for the long running role of Jack Deveraux on the NBC soap opera Days of our Lives.-Personal life:...
), the two sisters mend their relationship over the course of season one.
In season two (1999-2000), Phoebe is seen re-entering college and majoring in psychology. She continues to embrace her destiny as a witch and is noted by her sisters as being the best at writing new spells. In the absence of an active power, Phoebe becomes progressively adapt at martial arts in order to better fight demons and warlocks
Major villains in Charmed
This article is a time ordered survey of the influence of major evil figures and powers during the eight year run of the award winning television series Charmed, which details the complications that come into the lives of three twenty-something sisters known to wiccan prophecy as 'The Charmed Ones...
. Throughout the season, Phoebe struggles to open herself up to love and attempts to find a love interest who can live up to her "ideal guy" as portrayed in her favorite in-verse movie, Kill It Before It Dies by the character Billy (Chris Payne Gilbert
Chris Payne Gilbert
Chris Payne Gilbert is an American actor. He is best known for his television role as Todd on the TBS sitcom 10 Items or Less ....
). In the show's third season (2000-2001), Phoebe develops the active power of Levitation
Levitation
Levitation is the process by which an object is suspended by a physical force against gravity, in a stable position without solid physical contact...
and enters a relationship with Cole Turner
Cole Turner
Cole Turner is a fictional character on the WB television series Charmed, portrayed by series regular Julian McMahon between seasons three and five. McMahon returned for a guest appearance in the show's seventh season, for its 150th episode. Charmed is a series which focuses on three good witches,...
(Julian McMahon
Julian McMahon
Julian Dana William McMahon is an Australian actor and former fashion model. He is best known for his portrayals of Cole Turner in The WB hit series Charmed, womanizing plastic surgeon Christian Troy on the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning TV show Nip/Tuck, and Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four and...
), who is actually the demon mercenary Belthazor that has been hired to kill The Charmed Ones. Upon this discovery Phoebe struggles between her loyalty to her sisters and her love for Cole. After a tumultuous love affair, often deterred due to Cole's frequent struggle between good and evil, and still managing to graduate from college Phoebe ventures into The Underworld to save Cole from his dark side and unwittingly becomes a pawn to the Source of All Evil. When her sisters become exposed as witches in the mortal world, Phoebe makes a deal with the Source to save Piper's life not knowing that he plans to double cross her in the end.
The opening episode of the fourth season (2001-2002), "Charmed Again (Part 1)", reveals that Phoebe was rescued from the Underworld by her Whitelighter
Whitelighter
A Whitelighter is a fictional character featured on the WB television series Charmed. These beings are former human mortals who are given a second chance at life in order to serve under an angelic group known as The Elders as guardian angels for good witches and other future...
Leo Wyatt
Leo Wyatt
Leonardo "Leo" Wyatt is a fictional character from The WB television series Charmed, portrayed by Brian Krause. A possible breakout character included in the writing initially as a love interest beginning in the seventh episode of the first season that initially set Phoebe and Piper quarreling and...
(Brian Krause
Brian Krause
Brian Jeffrey Krause is an American actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Leo Wyatt on the WB Network TV series Charmed from 1998 to 2006.-Background:...
) and her boyfriend Cole. It also revealed that they were only able to make it back in time to heal Piper of her injuries from the season three finale while Prue was unable to be saved. Later in the episode, while attending Prue's funeral, Phoebe meets Paige Matthews
Paige Matthews
Paige Matthews is a fictional character from the television series Charmed. One of the featured leads, Paige is introduced at the start of season four as the fourth Halliwell sister and youngest Charmed One one of the most powerful witches of all time. The character was portrayed by Rose McGowan...
(Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan
Rose Arianna McGowan is an actress and singer. She is known for her role as Paige Matthews in The WB Television Network supernatural drama series Charmed. She played Ann-Margret alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Elvis Presley in the CBS mini-series Elvis...
) and receives a premonition of the woman being attacked by the same demon that killed Prue. This incident leads to Phoebe and Piper discovering that Paige is their younger half-sister. By the end of the season premiere, Paige helps to restore "The Power of Three" and vanquish Shax. During this season, Phoebe finds herself maturing into the role of the "middle sister" as she attempts to play mediator between Piper and Paige. Alongside continuing her Charmed role, Phoebe receives a marriage proposal from Cole, accepting after he becomes stripped of his demon half. Phoebe eventually pens the spell to vanquish the Source, whom escapes a final vanquish by possessing the now human Cole. For the remainder of the season, Phoebe plans to marry Cole unaware that he has become the new Source of All Evil and ruler of The Underworld. After being tricked by Cole and The Seer
The Seer (Charmed)
The Seers are two fictional characters on the WB television series Charmed. Each Seer is a powerful upper-level demoness capable of seeing the future.- The Seer :...
(Debbie Morgan) into participating in a dark marriage ceremony, Phoebe lands a job as an advice columnist for the newspaper The Bay Mirror. Soon after she discovers that she is pregnant and subsequently chooses to join Cole as his queen in The Underworld.
As season four draws to a close, Phoebe is forced to choose between her husband and her sisters. She mournfully sides with her sisters to vanquish Cole. Later, her unborn child is magically stolen by The Seer who claims that the child is rightfully hers and never belonged to Phoebe or Cole. About to be sacrificed as human offerings during The Seer's coronation as the new Source, Phoebe and her sisters tap into "The Power of Three" and vanquish The Seer and the entire Underworld council. In the season finale, the Angel of Destiny (Dakin Matthews
Dakin Matthews
Dakin Matthews is an American actor with a long history of work in film, television and theater. He is also a playwright, director, and theatrical scholar.-Life and career:...
) visits and gives the sisters an offer to live a normal life without magical powers or the threat of demons. After some contemplation Phoebe declines alongside her sisters. For season five (2002-2003), Phoebe attempts to live a life without Cole where she can focus on her career. This plan is stunted when a resurrected Cole returns to San Francisco eager to reconcile with Phoebe. After a series of attempts to win back Phoebe's affections, even trying to seduce her to evil once again, Cole is vanquished in the 100th episode of the series, "Centennial Charmed". Later in the season, Phoebe helps to deliver Piper and Leo's first child, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell. Soon after she begins a romantic relationship with her new boss, multi-millionaire Jason Dean (Eric Dane
Eric Dane
Eric Dane is an American actor. After appearing in television roles throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he became known for playing Dr...
).
In season six (2003-2004), Phoebe continues her relationship with Jason and also sees her magical abilities expand to include the power of Empathy
Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
. Phoebe eventually becomes more serious with Jason, moving with him to Hong Kong, China. After a year of dating, Jason discovers Phoebe's secret identity as a witch by accident and unable to handle the revelation breaks up with her. Phoebe subsequently moves back to San Francisco and into the Manor. In the episode, "The Legend of Sleepy Halliwell" Phoebe experiences a vision quest
Vision quest
A vision quest is a rite of passage in some Native American cultures.In many Native American groups, the vision quest is a turning point in life taken before puberty to find oneself and the intended spiritual and life direction. When an older child is ready, he or she will go on a personal,...
and not only discovers that her new time-traveling Whitelighter Chris Perry
Chris Halliwell
Christopher Perry "Chris" Halliwell is a fictional character on The WB television series Charmed. He is played by actor Drew Fuller. He is the son of Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt.- Character's background :...
(Drew Fuller
Drew Fuller
Drew Fuller is an American actor and former male model. He is best known for his portrayal of Chris Halliwell in the television series Charmed and for playing soldier Trevor LeBlanc on Lifetime's Army Wives.-Early life:Fuller was born in Atherton, California and grew up in Newport Beach; he has a...
) is actually Chris Halliwell and the second child of Piper and Leo, but that she is also destined to have a child of her own. This puts Phoebe on a selfish path of using her psychic powers to find the father of her child and dump her Charmed duties onto her sisters. Because of her actions, Phoebe is stripped of her powers of Premonition, Levitation, and Empathy by a Tribunal Council made up of both high-powered demons
Major villains in Charmed
This article is a time ordered survey of the influence of major evil figures and powers during the eight year run of the award winning television series Charmed, which details the complications that come into the lives of three twenty-something sisters known to wiccan prophecy as 'The Charmed Ones...
and Elders. In the sixth season finale, the sisters, Leo and Chris discover that a powerful Elder named Gideon
Gideon (Charmed)
Gideon is a fictional character on the television show Charmed.- Character's background :Gideon is one of the most powerful Elders and is the headmaster of Magic School, an institution where young magical beings learn magic...
(Gildart Jackson) wishes to destroy the Twice-Blessed Wyatt, an act which causes Wyatt to turn his back on good in the future.
At the start of season seven (2004-2005), Phoebe is still stripped of her powers. She begins to feel disconnected from her audience and takes a sabbatical from work and is temporarily replaced by a ghost-writer Leslie St. Claire (Nick Lachey
Nick Lachey
Nicholas Scott "Nick" Lachey is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and television personality. Lachey rose to fame as a member of the boy band 98 Degrees. He later starred in the reality television series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica with his then-wife, Jessica Simpson. He has released...
). Phoebe and Leslie enter a brief romance, but it doesn't last as Leslie eventually moves to Los Angeles. In the fifth episode of the season, "Styx Feet Under", Phoebe regains her power of Premonitions. In mid-season, in the hopes of having a demon-free life, Phoebe and her sisters join forces with The Avatars
Avatars (Charmed)
The Avatars are fictional characters in the WB television series Charmed.- Description :Avatars are an ancient group of magical beings who can bend the very fabric of time, space and reality. Their power is often described as the ability to manipulate time and space, through which they can reverse...
, powerful beings who are neither good nor evil, in their plan to turn the world into a utopia. Phoebe is the first of the sisters to regret this when her Premonition powers show her how much the world has been robbed of its free will. The Charmed Ones team up with an upper-level demon, Zankou (Oded Fehr
Oded Fehr
Oded Fehr is an Israeli film and television actor now based in the United States. He is known for his appearance as Ardeth Bay in the 1999 remake of The Mummy and its sequel The Mummy Returns, as well as Carlos Olivera in Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction and Resident Evil:...
) to defeat The Avatars. However, Zankou then turns on the sisters becoming their adversary for the remainder of the season. During this season Cole, while stuck in Limbo, arranges for the good-natured demon Drake De'mon (Billy Zane
Billy Zane
William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr...
) to enter Phoebe's life and keep her from giving up on love. In the season seven finale, during a suicide mission to vanquish Zankou, Phoebe and her sisters fake their deaths in order to escape the constant threat of demon attacks as well as police and government investigations.
For the eighth and final season (2005-2006), Phoebe takes on the false identity of Julie Bennett (Monica Allgeier) and begins a relationship with an artist named Dex Lawson (Jason Lewis). While under the influence of a spell cast by the prodigy of the Charmed Ones, Billie Jenkins
Billie Jenkins
Billie Jenkins is a fictional character on The WB television series Charmed. She was played by actress Kaley Cuoco, and appeared in every episode of the series' eighth and final season....
(Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Christine Cuoco is an American film and television actress. She first came to attention for her role as Bridget Hennessy on the Emmy Award-winning sitcom 8 Simple Rules. She later starred as Billie Jenkins on the final season of the supernatural drama series Charmed...
), Phoebe marries Dex under the alias of Julie. Unsure if she could ever have a lasting marriage with someone she isn't completely honest with, Phoebe reveals the truth of her hidden identity to Dex. The pair eventually agree to get an annulment. When Phoebe discovers that Billie and her sister, Christy Jenkins
Christy Jenkins
Christy Jenkins is a fictional character from the television series Charmed. The character was primarily portrayed by Marnette Patterson in eight episodes in 2006, with the character as a whole appearing in ten episodes of the eighth season.-Television:...
(Marnette Patterson
Marnette Patterson
Marnette Patterson is an American actress who is perhaps best known for her role as Christy Jenkins on Charmed.-Career:Patterson portrayed Nicole Farrell on the NBC series Something So Right....
) are the ultimate power The Charmed Ones must defeat to save Leo from the Angel of Death (Simon Templeman
Simon Templeman
Simon Templeman is an English voice actor known for his role as Kain in the video game series "Legacy of Kain", and as Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir in Dragon Age: Origins. He is also known as Simon Templeton. He is married to character actress Rosalind Chao with whom he has a son and daughter.- Animated...
), she has reservations because the women are human and not demons. In the end, Phoebe willing participates in the ultimate battle between The Charmed Ones and the Jenkins sisters. In the series finale, it is revealed that Phoebe falls in love with and marries a cupid named Coop (Victor Webster
Victor Webster
Victor Webster is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Brennan Mulwray in Mutant X and "Coop" on Charmed.-Life and career:...
), who was initially sent by The Elders to help Phoebe find love again. Their marriage will produce three children, all daughters. Phoebe also becomes a successful author, writing a self-help book on finding love.
Literature
As one of the central characters throughout the entire series, Phoebe appears in the majority of Charmed literature. These appearances first began in the series of novels. The novels follow no strict continuityContinuity (fiction)
In fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time...
with the series or each other, and are often considered to be non-canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
. However, the television series producers have final approval of everything in the novels, which could indicate the literature fitting into the established canon of the series and the so-called "Charmed universe". Phoebe's first appearance in Charmed literature takes place within the novel The Power of Three by Eliza Willard on November 1, 1999, which acts as a novelised version of the series premiere episode. Her last appearance in a Charmed novel takes place within Trickery Treat by Diana G. Gallagher
Diana G. Gallagher
Diana G. Gallagher is an American author who writes books for children and young adults based on television series. She has contributed to book series based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Charmed, among others....
on January 1, 2008.
In 2010, Charmed gained an officially licensed continuation in the form of a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
, which is often billed as Charmed Season 9
Charmed (comic book)
Charmed is comic book that is an officially licensed continuation of the popular The WB television series of the same name, which ended its eight year run in 2006. The series is published monthly by Zenescope Entertainment. The comic book serves as a continuation set eighteen months after the...
. The series is published monthly by Zenescope Entertainment. Set eighteen-months after the series finale, the sisters are seen living happy demon free lives and have each entered into motherhood. Phoebe has had her first daughter with her husband Coop, whom is named Prudence Johnna and nicknamed P.J. by Grams. Phoebe is also seen preparing to return to work as an advice columnist for The Bay Mirror. In the second issue of the comic, Phoebe regains her previously stripped powers of Levitation and Empathy. In Issue #6 of the comic, Morality Bites Back, Phoebe learns that she used Advanced Empathy to murder Cal Greene in a previously visited future of February 26, 2009 by reflecting his emotions back onto him which caused his brain to overload.
Magical powers
In Charmed it is revealed that magical witches can develop and master a variety of magical skills and powers which include; scrying, spell casting, and brewing potent potions. As a magical witch Phoebe can utilize scrying, a divination art form that allows one to locate a missing object or person. Phoebe can also cast spells, often written in iambic pentameter or as a rhyming couplet, to influence others or the world around her. She can also brew potions, most often used to vanquish foes or to achieve other magical feats similar to the effects of a spell. As a witch and Charmed One, Phoebe has also developed a number of magical powers which include Premonitions, Levitation, and Empathy.Premonitions
When Phoebe first comes into her powers, the first power she develops is the ability to see the future in the form of premonitions. Premonitions are considered to be a passive power. She triggers this power when she touches or is in the presence of something that is related to the subject of her premonitions, making them a form of psychometry. This originally only encompassed precognition, to see the future, but grew to include retrocognition, to see the past, as well. This power was initially uncontrollable, but in later seasons she learns to summon premonitions at will. While her premonitions are initially shown as black and white in the show, it is mentioned several times that Phoebe experiences them in color. As her power grows, her premonitions become more vivid to where they become slightly colored and she can hear and feel what is taking place. Phoebe's premonition powers also allow her visions to reveal the truth. For instance, in the season one finale, "Deja Vu All Over Again", when the world is caught within a reoccurring time loop by the time sorcerer Tempus (David CarradineDavid Carradine
David Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...
) Phoebe is able to realize that the same day is repeating over and over again because of her premonition powers.
By season five, her power evolves to enable her to experience aspects of astral projection allowing her to interact with the environment of her premonitions. This aspect of her power is highlighted in the season five episodes, "The Eyes Have It" and "Sand Francisco Dreamin'" as well as the season eight episode "Hulkus Pocus". Her premonition powers also evolve to allow Phoebe to anticipate the actions of others as in many instances Phoebe has sidestepped and jumped out the way of incoming fireballs and energy balls with perfect timing. Examples of this can be seen in the season seven episodes "Freaky Phoebe" where Phoebe is able to sense a demon who is behind her with a pair of scissors, and in the episode "Ordinary Witches", where Ronnie (Brian Howe
Brian Howe (actor)
Brian Howe is an American actor, most famous for his portrayal of stockbroker Jay Twistle in the film The Pursuit of Happyness. His other films include The Majestic, Catch Me If You Can, RV, Déjà Vu, Evan Almighty and Gran Torino...
), a cab driver Phoebe loses her powers to, is able to sense when and where the next fireball of a demon is going to be launched using her power of premonitions. Phoebe also develops the power to trigger a vision in someone else with similar powers, "sharing" visions with Elders and knowing how to trigger a specific "trap" premonition in the evil witch Mitzy (Jenny McCarthy
Jenny McCarthy
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy is an American model, comedian, actress, author, activist, and game show host. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then parlayed her Playboy fame into a successful television and...
), who has temporary possession of her powers. Kira (Charisma Carpenter
Charisma Carpenter
Charisma Lee Carpenter is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Cordelia Chase in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, for which she was nominated for four Saturn Awards. In her most recent film she starred opposite Sylvester Stallone and Jason...
), a powerful demonic seer, tells Phoebe her powers were once limited to psychometry but they grew, like Phoebe's will in time.
Levitation
At the start of season three, in the episode "The Honeymoon's Over", Phoebe obtains her first active power in the form of levitation, the power to defy gravity and float in the air. This power is uncontrollable when she first obtains it, but she later learns to maintain complete control over it. When new to her power, Phoebe is unable to move horizontally, and in the season three episode "Once Upon a Time", Prue uses telekinesis to guide Phoebe across a cavern while she is levitating. Later in the series, Phoebe often mixes her martial arts and kick boxing with her levitating power to knock out her enemies. In season four, the power advances so that Phoebe is able to glide short distances while levitating and she even learns to use her power to walk on walls. During the fifth season, she is able to propel herself while levitating, as seen when she propels herself through a ventilation duct with her levitation powers in the episode "The Importance of Being Phoebe". In the season six episode, "Forget Me... Not", Phoebe showcases a form of projective levitation, when she levitates camera equipment alongside herself and its cameraman operator. Phoebe displays projective levitation again in the episode "Love's a Witch" when she levitates the pillow she is sitting on along with her.Empathy
Season six sees Phoebe develop the power of empathy, the power to sense and experience the emotions of others. Being an empath allows Phoebe to directly channel the emotions of those around her. This initially causes considerable problems, as after encountering the emotions of others Phoebe would sometimes act on their whims. In the Charmed series, magical powers are tied to the user's emotions, and because Phoebe can feel the emotions of others, her empathy allows her to sometimes tap into other characters' magical powers. This is first seen in the second half of the two-part season six premiere, "Valhalley of the Dolls (Part 2)". When a Valkyrie-turned-Piper attacks Phoebe, she channels Piper's telekinetic Valkyrie powers to where she can use them herself. This channeling of Valkyrie Piper's powers, also made her powers, when used against Phoebe, ineffective. In later episodes, Phoebe also uses empathy to deflect energy balls and fireballs, causing them to backfire on their users.In the season two episode, "Morality Bites", when the sisters travel to the future, it is revealed that Phoebe uses a magical power to kill a man named Cal Greene out of revenge. In the Charmed comics, Issue #6 Morality Bites Back, Phoebe learns that this power is an advanced form of empathy. Phoebe discovers that her empathy powers grow to allow her to incapacitate or even kill another person. In the comics, Phoebe realizes that she murders Cal Greene by reflecting his emotions back onto him, flooding his mind with painful emotions, which causes his brain to overload.
Natural abilities
To make up for initially only having a passive power, Phoebe takes classes in self-defense. She gradually becomes the most effective hand-to-hand fighter out of all the four sisters due to her martial arts training. Her skills in hand-to-hand combat advanced to the point where Phoebe has been capable of besting multiple adversaries, most notably demonic wrestlers, Furies and vampires.Casting and development
In 1998, the Warner Brothers Television Network began searching for a drama series, and looked to Spelling TelevisionSpelling Television
Spelling Television Inc. was a television production company that produced popular shows such as Charmed, Beverly Hills, 90210, 7th Heaven, Dynasty and Melrose Place. The company was founded by television producer Aaron Spelling in 1969...
, which had produced the network's most successful series 7th Heaven
7th Heaven
7th Heaven is an American family drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on August 26, 1996, on the WB, the first time that the network aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from August 26, 1996 to May 13, 2007...
, to create it. Expanding on the popularity of supernatural-themed dramas, the production company explored forms of mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
to find mythological characters they could focus on with contemporary storytelling. In order to create the series, Constance M. Burge
Constance M. Burge
Constance M. Burge is the creator of the Charmed television series and short-lived Savannah series. Burge was also a writer for Judging Amy, Ally McBeal and Boston Public. She also worked as a producer for several shows. She left her executive producer position on Charmed because of disagreement...
was hired as the creator as she was under contract with 20th Century Fox and Spelling Television after conceiving the drama Savannah
Savannah (TV series)
Savannah is an American prime time television drama that ran from January 21, 1996 to February 24, 1997 on The WB. It was created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling.-Plot:...
.
The character of Phoebe Halliwell was conceived by Burge, who wrote the pilot script for Charmed. The pilot script was based around three mismatched sisters who are initially based on Burge and her two older sisters, Laura and Edie Burge. Phoebe is based on Burge herself. On creating the Halliwell sisters, Burge states "Phoebe was honestly the easiest. It just grew from within." Executive Producer Brad Kern
Brad Kern
Brad Kern is a distinguished television producer and writer best known recently for his work as head writer and executive producer on the hit supernatural drama Charmed, which he was showrunner on for all eight seasons...
claims Phoebe is written into the series as the classic younger sibling and states that at the start of series Phoebe is "trying to find her own identity by living life large and not really having a care in the world."
When the series was in its first development stages, actress Lori Rom
Lori Rom
Lori Rom is an American actress.Rom attended Carnegie Mellon University's drama conservatory, where she also worked through school...
was cast in the role of Phoebe. Rom played the role in a 28-minute test pilot (the "unaired pilot", never aired on network television) with which the series was picked up by The WB. Rom later pulled out from the series before a 45-minute version of the pilot could be filmed for proper network television, leaving the role of Phoebe vacant. TV producer Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. As of 2009, Spelling's eponymous production company Spelling Television holds the record as the most prolific television writer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits...
then turned to actress Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Jayne Milano is an American actress and former singer, known for her childhood role as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? and an eight-year stint as Phoebe Halliwell on the series Charmed. She was also a series regular on the original Melrose Place portraying the role of...
, who was previously cast in another television series produced by Spelling Television, Melrose Place. While Milano was in Hawaii shooting an episode for Fantasy Island, Spelling phoned Milano and asked her to consider joining the series. After receiving a copy of the original pilot and the script, five days later Milano began shooting the re-shot pilot episode.
Death count
During the run of the series and her life as a Charmed One, Phoebe died 9 times, including both times she died and time was reset in the first season.| Episode | Episode Name | Cause of Death | Revival |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1x22 | Déjà Vu All Over Again | Killed by an energy ball thrown by a demon twice. | Time was reset both times. |
| 2x02 | Morality Bites | Burned at the stake as punishment for murder. | Sent back in time, as she had learned her lesson. |
| 5x08 | A Witch in Time | Killed by a fire ball thrown by a warlock. | Piper, with the help of Leo, went back in time to save her. |
| 6x08 | Sword and the City | Killed by lightning bolts fired by a demon. | Leo healed her before her soul crossed over. |
| 6x15 | I Dream of Phoebe | An evil genie wished for her death. | Since the evil genie wished for the Charmed Ones to die, but not individually, when Piper called out to Leo when she was crossing over, he healed her. And since the Charmed Ones were bound together, Phoebe's and Paige's souls couldn't cross over because of this. |
| 7x07 | Someone to Witch Over Me | Killed by a Celerity Demon. | Leo revived her after he became an Avatar Avatars (Charmed) The Avatars are fictional characters in the WB television series Charmed.- Description :Avatars are an ancient group of magical beings who can bend the very fabric of time, space and reality. Their power is often described as the ability to manipulate time and space, through which they can reverse... . |
| 7x19 | Freaky Phoebe | Killed by Imara while inside the sorceress, Imara's body, and Imara in her (Phoebe) body. | Brought back from the ghostly plane with a spell. |
| 8x21 | Kill Billie Vol. 2 | Killed after the manor exploded. | Piper and Leo, with the help of Coop's ring, went back in time to save her. |