Power



"You are not allowed to use your active power on me until I have an active power to use on you, remember?"

- Phoebe Halliwell to her older sister Prue.

Powers are supernatural abilities possessed by beings of the magical community. Powers are a biological part of the possessor, predominately residing in the blood. They manifest themselves only when the being is ready, or as a reflex when they are in direst need of help. Some powers will manifest themselves at the onset of puberty, some can manifest themselves when the being is only a fetus.

Though there is a clear difference between the powers used by good and those used by evil, powers in themselves aren't good or evil. Piper once explained that it is just the matter of how the powers are used. Throughout the years, powers that were frequently used by good are now used by evil. For example, the power of blinking, which is now considered a "warlock power", used to be a witch's power during the 17th century.

In some cases mortals get in possession of powers, through getting blood from a magical being injected in their bodies or by a power broker storing a power into them. In either way, mortals are not meant to have powers. As described in the Book of Shadows, they become confused, then frightened, paranoid, violent, and demonic and will ultimately die unless the powers are withdrawn.

In 2000, Dr. Curtis Williamson had accidentally injected himself with the Charmed Ones' powers. In order to save his life and withdraw the powers, Phoebe had created a potion to remove the powers from his body. However, Williamson was already corrupted by the powers and died during a fight with the Charmed Ones.

Powers can advance or be taken away as a being goes from one lifetime to the other. Beings whose past life had misused one of their powers will lose that misused power or have no powers at all. If they were not misused, their powers will advance. For example, if you had Pyrokinesis in one life and used it for good purposes than it may evolve into Pyrogenismin your next life.

Active or Passive
Powers can be either active or passive. Although most active powers are considered the most powerful and coveted powers, passive powers such as premonition are certainly not weak. In a way, passive powers can be more powerful then active powers, depending on how the possessor uses them.

Active Powers
Also referred to as physical powers, these powers can affect a being or object physically or even mentally. These powers are mostly offensive or defensive and are the most useful during battle, which is why beings who possess an active power are known to make the first move when fighting. Most active powers are used to hurt or even kill other beings, whilst other do the complete opposite and protect the possessor from harm.

Passive Powers
These powers, also called mental or supportive powers, almost never cause harm nor protect the possessor directly. They are most useful in uncovering information and supporting other beings and their abilities. Powers like telepathy and empathy can develop themselves into an active, defensive power as you essentially share in and replicate another beings powers.

Categories
There is a wide range of powers. They all fall into at least one of the following categories.

Offensive
Active powers that are used to attack and possibly kill another being. They are mostly useless for anything else.


 * Notable examples
 * Telekinesis, Molecular Combustion, Energy balls, Fire balls, Optical Thermodynamics, Pathokinesis, Light Darts, Pyrokinesis, Molecular Acceleration, Electrokinesis and Laser Bolts.
 * Telekinesis, Molecular Combustion, Energy balls, Fire balls, Optical Thermodynamics, Pathokinesis, Light Darts, Pyrokinesis, Molecular Acceleration, Electrokinesis and Laser Bolts.

Defensive
Active powers that, as the name suggest, can be used to defend oneself from harm. These powers generally do not cause injuries to the opponent. Powers like empathy, deflection and shielding can cause harm as they deflect powers back at the opponent.


 * Notable examples


 * Empathy, Telepathy, Shielding, High Resistance, Immunity, Invincibility, Intangibility, Invisibility, Molecular Immobilization, Levitation, and Deflection.

Supporting
Passive powers that do not cause harm nor protect the being who possesses them. They are far more useful in uncovering information and supporting other beings and their powers.


 * Notable examples
 * Premonition, Empathy, Telepathy, Healing, X-Ray Vision, Astral Projection, and Cloning.
 * Premonition, Empathy, Telepathy, Healing, X-Ray Vision, Astral Projection, and Cloning.

Transporting
Passive powers that are used to transport oneself through space and time, even through different planes. The ability that achieves this is called Teleportation.


 * Notable examples


 * Orbing, Shimmering, Fading, Blinking, Whirling, Glistening, Apparition, Smoking, Shredding, and Beaming.

Power Stealing


The most common M.O. of demons and warlocks alike. Magical beings are mostly attacked and killed for their powers. Warlocks and evil witches are known to specifically hunt after witch's powers, whilst demons can be are after almost any power, even from fellow demons. Stealing powers from a being usually ends in the death of the victim. Demons generally steal powers to build up their own power and take over the Underworld.

There are certain ways in order for a power to be stolen. Warlocks generally prefer to use athames. They stab their victim, which automatically transfers the powers from the victim to the warlock. If they are in the possession of a power-sucking athame, they can choose to store the power in that athame until they are ready to absorb the power.

Evil witches generally use spells and potions to steal another witch's powers. This allows them to steal the powers from a being without that being even knowing it or even from a distance, so that they will not be harmed. Vanquishing an evil witch usually results in the powers being send back to their original possessors, if they are still alive.

Sound Effects
Each power has its particular sound effect to accompany it as it activates. If a power has a prolonged effect, such as Molecular Immobilization, a corresponding sound effect may also be heard as the power deactivates.

You can download all the sound effects here.