Sam Wilder

Samuel "Sam" Wilder was the Whitelighter and lover of Patty Halliwell and is the father of Paige Matthews. Not much is known of his life as a mortal, but he did receive New York's Teacher of the Year award for 1872.

Whitelighter
After his death, he became a Whitelighter, one of his charges was Patty Halliwell.

During the end of her marriage to her husband, Victor Bennett, Patty fell in love with Sam and he fathered her fourth child. Fearing repercussions if their relationship were to be discovered by the Elders, Sam and Patty took their newborn daughter to a church and gave her up to a nun there. They requested only that her name start with a "P", like the rest of the members of the Halliwell family. That daughter later on grew up to be the first whitelighter-witch hybrid and legendary Charmed One, Paige Matthews.

Becoming Mortal
When a Water Demon began attacking children in the lake at a camp, Sam told Patty not to interfere because it was too strong. He feared for her life and tried to stop her. Patty was forced to freeze him with her powers of molecular immobilization, but in the time it took her, the water demon attacked and killed Patty.

Blaming himself for the death of his charge and lover, Sam "clipped his wings" and stayed to live out his days at the camp, doing odd jobs there.

Facing His Demons
When the Charmed Ones start to investigate the water demon, Sam tries to use some of Patty's memory dust that he had been saving for years. In an effort to protect them, he wants to keep them away from the camp, but the sisters break the spell and return. Together, Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Leo and Sam are able to use Patty's plan of electrocuting the water demon to kill it.

Sam, however, is mortally wounded during the fight, but along with Prue succeds in vanquishing the demon by sacrificing himself. Leo tries to heal Sam, but can't because he was not meant to. Sam is content to die, however, and is reunited with Patty, whom he sees as a specter, returning to greet Sam and take him into the afterlife.

Reuniting With Paige
Sam, however, does not stay dead, he is made a Whitelighter again and once again stops using his whitelighter powers after losing another charge. For whatever reason, this time he doesn't "clip his wings" and retains his Whitelighter powers, just abandoning his duty. In a plot to get Sam back on his feet, The Elders assign Paige to him as her first charge. After discovering who she was, Sam attempts to leave before she can discover his true identity. Unfortunatley, Paige is attacked by a Darklighter's arrow and Sam is the only one who can save her. Through his love of Paige, Sam gets over his self-pity and gets his Whitelighter powers back, healing Paige in the knick of time.

Three years later, Paige felt she again had to get over her issues with Sam, because he hadn't dropped by for a visit since they last saw each other three years prior. His James Dean-esque charge from the 1950s, J.D., required extra help, which is why Sam contacted his daughter for the case. He later admits that he hasn't dropped by because he wasn't sure how to fit into Paige's heart as her father because he was never there for her.

In the end, he promises to keep in touch more often so he can find a place in his daughter's heart.

In the Charmed Season 9 comic issue, Last Witch Effort, Sam is called by Phoebe to try and heal a nearly dead Paige. Sam is unsuccessful in his efforts. However, he assists the Warren witches, The Elders, and The Charmed Ones in the battle with Neena, the first witch. Coincidentally, this is the only time when Sam and Victor Bennett are in the same place, at the same time, though it's unknown if they have any interaction.

Charges
Throughout the course of the series, Sam has been shown to have 2 charges who were a witch and a future whitelighter, respectively:
 * Patty Halliwell - a witch (deceased, lost)
 * J.D. Williams - a future whitelighter who disappeared in 1956. He was found and killed later in 2005 (deceased, lost)

Appearances
Sam appeared in a total of 3 episodes over the course of the series and 2 issues throughout the course of the comic series.


 * Season 2 -
 * P3 H2O


 * Season 5 -
 * Sam, I Am


 * Season 8 -
 * The Lost Picture Show


 * Season 9 -
 * Last Witch Effort
 * The Charmed Offensive