Warlock

Warlocks are an evil race of magical beings that hunt, capture and kill Witches for power. In the Hierarchy of Evil, warlocks are beneath demons and as such they are virtual second class citizens in the Underworld. They may be ex-witches who have evolved into beings of pure darkness through dedication to evil in a manner comparable to how Good witches and Whitelighter are dedicated to Good. The term is not gender-specific and refers to witches who have gone down the path of evil, rescinding their humanity after committing an irrevocable act of evil – to kill a witch and steal his or her magic and powers.

While many Warlocks may be former witches, this is not the only way to become one. Warlocks can be born with their dark powers making their magic inherited from their parents. Familiars can also become Warlocks after killing their charges.

Significant Warlock Moments
The warlock Nicholas is the reason that the Halliwell sisters go through most of their lives without knowing they were witches. In 1975, he tricked their mother Patty Halliwell into granting him immunity from their powers in exchange for their lives. Sometime after the youngest, Phoebe was born, their grandmother Penny Halliwell bound their powers and stripped their memories of witchcraft to protect them from being hunted by evil.

It's revealed that in the near future scientists were going to discover a virus that specifically infected all three-eyed warlocks, destroying the entire race. In order to stop this from happening, the Warlock Gavin traveled from the future with the hope of killing the science team responsible before the discovery could be made. Unfortunately for him the Charmed Ones vanquish him before he could kill all the scientists involved. Whether or not this possible future trully comes to fruition is unclear as future events foreseen will have been dramatically changed by Gavin's actions in the past. If it does however, that warlock race may come to an abrupt end ("The Truth Is Out There... and It Hurts").

The most powerful line of warlocks of all time was the Rowe Coven. Much like the Halliwell/Warren line, each generation of Rowe warlocks grew even more powerful, culminating in the arrival of three brothers who would form the most powerful evil force in history. However, Prue helped the youngest of these brothers, Brendan, permanently suppress his warlock side and destroy his brothers. During this episode, it is revealed that a half warlock (presumably also a full warlock) can permanently strip his powers by becoming a priest ("When Bad Warlocks Go Good").

It was long thought that warlocks couldn't be found by scrying, even though they are technically still witches. However, it is possible to track a warlock by scrying for one or more of the powers he has stolen, since a witch's power technically remains alive even after its user dies ("Blinded by the Whitelighter").

When The Source of All Evil is wounded in battle by the Charmed Ones, a warlock faction tries to usurp the Underworld. The warlocks of the faction hold many powers, several of which were stolen from demons, guaranteeing their death at demon hands if they failed. The Charmed Ones killed several of the faction’s members when recovering the Ring Of Inspiration but some Warlocks chose to flee rather than die at their hands("Muse to My Ears").

In an ironic twist, it was the actions of the warlock Nigel and his evil witch girlfriend Robin that motivated Penny Halliwell to become one of the most deadly demon-killing witches in history. After Robin took the life of Penny's husband Allen Halliwell, she got so consume by rage that she vanquished both evil beings. Before Allen's death Penny was a pacifist, but when he died she changed and became committed to using her magic to vanquish demons. Penny later taught (after her own death) everything she knew to her granddaughters, helping them to become the Charmed Ones ("Witchstock").

Powers and Abilities

 * Basic Powers
 * Spell Casting: The ability to cast spells and perform rituals. A notable example is the warlock Bacarra, who used Latin phrases as spells to achieve various effects.
 * Potion Making: The ability to brew magical potions.
 * Scrying: The ability to scry for lost objects or beings through the use of a scrying crystal and a map.
 * Active Powers
 * Power Absorption: The ability to absorb and gain ownership of the powers of other beings. Warlocks can absorb the powers of Witches and other beings by stabbing and killing them with an Athame.
 * Blinking: The ability to instantly teleport from one location to another by blinking one's eyes. This is a highly common power among Warlocks, though not all Warlocks are shown possessing this power.
 * Individial Powers: Due to their ability to aborb the powers of other beings, Warlocks are seen with a great variety of magical powers. The various sub-species of Warlocks are also shown possessing individual powers not displayed by other Warlocks species, such as the Dragon Warlock possessing Fire Breathing and The Collectors possessing Knowledge Absorption. It may also be possible for born Warlocks to inherit powers from their line similar to Witches.
 * Other Powers
 * Immortality: The ability to possess an infinite lifespan and an arrested aging process. Nearly all Warlocks are immortal, though there are a few exceptions. A notable example is the Familiar Warlock Shadow, who whould not achieve immortality until he had shed the last of his Familiar life. It is unknown if born warlocks such as the Rowe Coven are immortal as they do age, especially in the case of the half-warlock Brendan Rowe.

Warlock Spell

 * The Power of Three
 * Will Set Us Free,
 * The Power of Three
 * Will Set Us Free,
 * The Power of Three
 * Will Set Us Free!

Melinda's Curse
(To Curse Matthew Tate into Melinda's locket)


 * Ingredients needed:


 * assorted herbs,
 * a Spotted Owl Feather,
 * a leather bag
 * and a locket.


 * Combine the herbs and make it into a fine powder.
 * Put the powder into the leather bag and add the owl feather.
 * Put the bag into fire and let it burn while chanting the spell
 * and holding the locket open, pointed to the to-be-cursed warlock


 * Outside of Time!
 * Outside of Gain!
 * Know only Sorrow!
 * Know only Pain!

Phoebe Halliwell's Warlock Vanquishing Spell

 * Evil is a faithful Foe,
 * But Good does battle Best.
 * We Witches will with these Words,
 * Waste This Warlock's Evil Zest.

To Kill a Female Warlock

 * Through This Book
 * Weave This Spell
 * Create the Pain
 * Of Heaven to Hell
 * May She Suffer
 * Until She Cries
 * Her Tears Will Dry
 * And Then She Dies

Spell to Vanquish Eames
Witches can weaken warlocks by using their witchcraft to create specific spells to counteract a warlock's specific powers. This was the case with the infamous witch killer Eames. ("Blinded by the Whitelighter")


 * Time for Amends and a Victim's Revenge, 
 * Cloning Power turned Sour,(to Disable his cloning)
 * Power to Change turned to Strange,(stopped transmogrification power)
 * I'm Rejecting Your Deflection.(negated his power to deflect)

Blinding Potion
The Charmed Ones created a potion that would blind Warlocks and prevent them from Blinking. ("Muse to My Ears")

Becoming a Warlock
There are several ways in which Witches and other beings can become Warlocks:


 * For a Witch to use his or her powers to kill another witch and take his or her powers. ("Something Wicca This Way Comes")
 * For a magical Witch to be married to a Warlock in a Dark Binding ceremony. This ritual can be conducted without consent and will turn the Witch into an evil Warlock despite his or her previous moral inclinations. When the dark priestess Dantalian married Prue Halliwell to the warlock Zile, she and her sisters all became Warlocks due to their connection This rituals also converted the Book of Shadows into a Grimoire. However, for the conversion to be complete, the new warlocks must each kill an innocent. The conversion can be reversed by vanquishing the Warlock that entered the marriage, which will anull the marriage and the conversion. ("Bride and Gloom")
 * To be born to one or more warlock parents. Two warlocks can produce a child, that will be a warlock upon birth, such as two brothers of the Rowe Coven. Brendan Rowe, however, a man born of a warlock father and a mortal mother, chose to renounce his evil nature and became a priest, shedding his warlock side. ("When Bad Warlocks Go Good")
 * For a Familiar to kill his or her Witch. The Familiar then takes on human form and obtains the powers of his or her Witch. Once this is done, the new Warlock must shed the last of its familiar nature before midnight of the next New Moon in order to become immortal. ("Pre-Witched")

Warlock Sub-Species

 * The Collectors: Warlocks who are able to drain and absorb knowledge through needle-like finger protrusions. After draining their victims information from their head, the victims may lose part of their memories or become catatonic. A Collector can also put information back in someone's head, which revives the person. A Collector's greatest weakness is his thirst for knowledge.
 * Dragon Warlock: According to the Book of Shadows, the Dragon Warlock is the twisted spawn of a dragon and a sorceress. This warlock is known to be the most feared and powerful witch killer there is. The Dragon Warlock possessed the powers of Fire Breathing, Flight and Super Strength.
 * Familiar Warlocks: When a Familiar betrays and kills its charge, it becomes a Familiar Warlock, taking on human form and taking the powers of its Witch. To become immortal, the new Warlock must shed the last of its familiar nature before midnight of the next New Moon. In the case of a feline familiar, the warlock must die nine times in order to gain immortality or be cursed to be an animal for all eternity.
 * Three-Eyed Warlock: A breed of Warlocks from the future that possess a third eye which emits a deadly beam to kill innocents.
 * Familiar Hunters: Low-level Warlocks that target and kill witches' Familiars with the purpose of leaving them more vulnerable to the attack of evil.
 * Rat Warlocks: A breed of warlocks with the power to Shapeshift into rats.
 * Hereditary Warlocks: A breed of Warlocks that is born as such, inheriting their magic from one or both parents similar to how Witches are born. The only known hereditary warlocks are of the Rowe Line, which was prophesied to bring about three brothers that would be essentially be an evil Power of Three. The Rowe Coven consisted of two pure Warlocks, Greg and Paul Rowe, and the half-warlock Brendan Rowe.

Demonic Form
Some warlocks have displayed a demonic form much like some Upper-level demons. Only Greg and Brendan Rowe displayed demonic forms (Paul also possess one, but is never seen); which could mean that only hereditary warlocks possess this ability. This form can be immediately triggered by anger. Presumably, this would enhance their power. Once someone regains control of their emotions, they can return to their human form.

Speculation
Throughout the show, Charmed has never been completely clear on what the actual definition of a warlock is. This has lead to a divide amongst fans who go by various definitions though the most commonly disputed one is how a warlock differs (or not) from an evil witch and so fans have been let to infer what they can from the episodes available, with some believing that.

In the very first episode of Charmed, ("Something Wicca This Way Comes") (as well as in the unaired Pilot), Phoebe explains what the basic nature of a warlock is, as told by the Book of Shadows:

Phoebe to Prue: "A bad witch, or a warlock, has but one goal: To kill good witches to obtain their powers."

Now, not only does this tell the viewer what the general goal of a warlock is but it also shows that bad witches or warlocks are the same. However, it is important to remember that just like with good witches, who also have their own personal goals and achievements, that this is a generalized view of a goal for warlocks. They may also have others such as Devlin and his faction who tried to collect Muses in order to organize the Underworld. Eames is another example who tried to kill all Whitelighters, albeit in order to kill witches and take their powers faster and more effectively. Throughout the show, warlocks have been shown to only hunt and kill good witches rather than mortal innocents (with the exception of a few mortals who were killed by warlocks like Devlin and Bacarra) while evil witches seem to harm and kill both mortal and magical innocents.

This definition of a warlock is echoed again in Bride and Gloom. In this episode Dantalian turns Prue evil and marries her to a warlock with what appeared to be a dark version of a Handfasting. Later on, this moral corruption spreads to Phoebe and Piper who also become evil. Leo then calls them warlocks, because of their giving in to evil. This heavily implies that witches who have turned evil (bad witches) are warlocks and revisits the ideal from the first episode.

Warlocks have been shown in the past to use basic witches powers as well, such as the familiar Hunter who could scry and Bacarra who could cast spells and make potions, further hinting at the idea that Warlocks are indeed evil witches and that the terms are synonymous.

However, some beings on the show termed as evil witches rather than warlocks that possess very un-warlock like traits. For example, Warlocks tend to use their active powers more than basic ones (if ever) and they usually get around by blinking. The Evil Witch in Happily Ever After, went after the Charmed Ones using fairytale magic rather than active powers and teleported in a puff of smoke as opposed to Blinking. Several other bad witches on the show have displayed this trait too, such as Christy who never blinked and the Stillman sisters.

Some Evil Witches like Tuatha have familiars too, whereas no warlock has before, however this could just be because of the fact that most warlocks were born as such and Tuatha's familiar was carried over from her days as a good witch.

Some fans have speculated that the difference between Warlocks and Evil Witches is that bad witches are actually practitioners turned evil and Warlocks are Magical Witches turned evil. This would certainly explain why a lot of warlocks use their active powers more than their basic ones and why evil witches are often the inverse. However, the actual definition of a Practitioner witch has never been fully described and so one can't ever know for sure, as even the only canon, non speculative reference there is for the definition of a warlock, which is that they are synonymous with evil witches (demonstrated in the first episode and echoed for some time later on), has been effectively retconned by the show's non-uniform use of the two classifications afterwards.

Some fans also speculate that an evil witch, sometimes confused with a Warlock, is a witch who renounces The Wiccan Rede, and uses his/her powers for personal gain and evil, sinister means, though they do not kill witches for their powers and do not sell their soul to the forces of evil. As shown in Bride and Gloom, when witches turn evil, they renounce their right to a Whitelighter.

The first evil witch encountered by the Charmed Ones, was Tuatha, with many more following the same basic trend. The Charmed Ones have faced many evil witches, including the Wicked Witch of Fairy Tales, the Evil Enchantress and the Stillman Sisters.

Appearances
Warlocks have appeared in a total of 25 episodes and 5 comic issues throughout the course of the series.


 * Season 1
 * Something Wicca This Way Comes
 * I've Got You Under My Skin
 * Dream Sorcerer
 * The Wedding from Hell
 * The Truth Is Out There... and It Hurts
 * The Witch is Back
 * Wicca Envy
 * That '70s Episode
 * When Bad Warlocks Go Good


 * Season 2
 * Witch Trial
 * The Painted World
 * They're Everywhere
 * Pardon My Past
 * Be Careful What You Witch For


 * Season 3
 * Blinded by the Whitelighter
 * Bride and Gloom
 * PreWitched


 * Season 4
 * Muse to My Ears
 * Bite Me


 * Season 5
 * A Witch In Time
 * The Importance of Being Phoebe
 * The Day The Magic Died
 * Cat House


 * Season 6
 * Witchstock
 * Witch Wars


 * Season 9
 * Charmed Lives
 * No Rest for the Wicca
 * Innocents Lost
 * Mortal Enemies
 * Unnatural Resources