Imara

"Phoebe's a celebrity ... idolized, envied. The way I deserve to be... and someday will be."

- Imara's envious nature.

Imara was vanquished in 2005, she was a demonic sorceress strongly underestimated and disrespected by the rest of the Underworld due to her unfortunate physical appearance. Despite being considered little more than a hag by most, she was a master of spells and dark magic and highly ambitious and unpredictable. Imara desired beauty, power and respect that she did not possess, so, to this end, sought to defeat the demon Zankou, removing the competition and bringing herself to glory. To accomplish this, she plotted to vanquish his most trusted lieutenants; mainly Benzor, Daleek and Linson.

Physical Appearance
Imara was thought of as hideous and repulsive by both demons and Phoebe Halliwell, who was shocked when she found herself in her body. Even her own minions appeared sickened by her appearance, which she punished them for. Once, Imara asked one of her minions if he thought she was beautiful, which he answered "yes... of course" unconvincingly, to which a female servant of Imara sniggered and was punished.

Personality and Traits
Imara was wise and learned in the magic branches of spell casting and potion making. She was also very envious of the successful, powerful and beautiful, especially Phoebe Halliwell. Her desire to rule and have both beauty and power was very strong, but she was also patient, as her minion mentioned that they had watched the Charmed Ones for weeks before Imara put her plan into action.

Early Life


"Considered to be little more than a hag by most upper-level demons, Imara dreams of power and beauty denied to her in the Underworld."

- An extract of Imara's entry in the Book of Shadows.

Imara was born with, stole, or purchased the powers of fire balls and a fade-shimmer teleportation ability. She was also capable of casting spells and brewing potions, both of which she had particular skill in doing. Despite her magical prowess and skills, Imara was disrespected and underestimated by the rest of the Underworld because of her appearance, which caused her to be thought of as nothing more than a hag. She soon desired beauty, power and respect from her fellow demons, and apparently enslaved some to her and kept them in her dark chambers in the Underworld.

At an unknown time, Imara was either encountered by a witch from the Warren line, who wrote a brief entry about her powers and personality in the family's Book of Shadows. The entry also included a picture of her, making it likely that the Warren witch had actually met Imara.

Her Plot
"The only way to weaken Zankou is to take out his most trusted lieutenants. Daleek, Benzor, Linson... all above ground. All of whom I can only get to with the help of the beautiful Charmed Ones."

- Imara's plan against Zankou.

After Zankou was freed from his prison, where he was banished by the Source of All Evil, Imara immediately recognised him as a threat to her and her plans of power and rulership. She saw that the way to weaken him was by defeating his greatest lieutenants, Daleek, Benzor and Linson, amoving others. To accomplish this, Imara plotted to switch souls with one of the Charmed Ones, who would have enough power to vanquish the Infiltrator Demons. She ordered one of her minions to obtain a lock of hair from Piper Halliwell, the eldest, while she was at P3, as a fresh ingredient from her target was required for her Soul Swapping Spell.

Unfortunately for Imara, her minion did not succeed in obtaining a lock of Piper's hair, which angered her. However, this made her reconsider; she decided not to go after Piper again because of her incredible power, and would not turn her sights to Paige because of her constant contact with the Elders, being a whitelighter. Imara then pointed out that Phoebe was envied, idolized and respected, just as she wished to be, so sent another demon out to get a lock of hair from her instead. Her minion succeeded, though left his scissors behind, and Imara began to brew the potion. After completing the Soul Swapping Spell, Imara's minions locked her body in a cage, so that, when Phoebe's soul arrived in her body, she would not escape.

In Phoebe's Body
The spell was successful, but now she had to mimic Phoebe in hopes of no one, especially Piper and Paige, becoming suspicious to her body swap.

However, Imara did not imitate Phoebe particularly well, every time she passed a shiny surface, she would admire herself and she was very bad at impersonating Phoebe's premonitions. She was struck by how beautiful she had become; the sisters realized something was amiss when Imara constantly changed outfits even before tracking a demon. The plan was found out by Piper and Paige after Imara killed Phoebe. She was eventually vanquished when Piper and Paige brought back Phoebe's soul.

Powers and Abilities

 * Fire balls: Imara possessed the active power of creating and throwing fire balls. She could use it even while in Phoebe's body.
 * Teleportation: Imara's method of teleportation was a combination of fading and shimmering.
 * Spell casting: Imara, as a demonic sorceress, was particularly skilled with spells and incantations.
 * Potion making: Along with the power to cast spells, Imara could also brew and use magical potions.

Imara's Soul Swapping Spell

 * A lock of hair from the individual one wishes to become as well as other potion ingredients are required.


 * Ekat ym luos.
 * Ekat a demrahc eno.
 * Edart meht won.

Translation
The spell recited is a backward version of the following:
 * Take my soul
 * Take a Charmed One
 * Trade them now.

Note

 * This reflects the season 2 episode Witch Trial where Abraxas recited spells in the Book of Shadows backwards in order to demonize and render good magic evil.

Appendices

 * (Book of Shadows text:)

Imara
 * Considered to be little more than a hag by most
 * upper-level demons, Imara dreams of power and beauty denied to her in
 * the Underworld. She is master of spells and incantations, however, and her ambitions
 * make her dangerous and unpredictable.

Vanquish Spell
After the sisters vanquished Imara's body as well as Phoebe's soul along with it accidently, they were able to call Phoebe's soul back into her own body, thus expelling Imara with the following spell. This rendered Imara's evil soul obliterated into oblivion like her body.


 * (A lock of Imara's hair required!)


 * Lock of hair completes our goal
 * to help us reclaim our sister's soul,
 * Banish this evil, spare no pain,
 * Bring Phoebe back from the ghostly plane.

Behind the Scenes

 * During shootings, Suzanne Krull (Imara), would follow Alyssa Milano on set, mimicking her movements, intonations, etc.. so that she could portray a good Phoebe (when she trapped in Imara's body).
 * During an interview, Suzanne Krull said that she was a bit sad that her role on Charmed only lasted one episode; "I die", Suzanne sighs, "but I die in Charmed".

Glitches

 * It's odd how the Book of Shadows was not able to recognize Imara's evil soul in Phoebe's body when she touched it. It's always been said the Book recognizes evil magic, how could it now sense the evil magic within Imara's soul?

Appearances
Imara appeared in a total of 1 episode throughout the course of the series.


 * Season 7
 * Freaky Phoebe