Zankou

Zankou was an ancient and extremely powerful demon who had been the scourge of both Earth and the Underworld. Various Sources have had to deal with him for several centuries. He has an exceptional power of cogniscience and seems to sense the weaknesses of his opponents. Believed to be a serious threat to the demonic hierarchy because of his powers and evil ways, Zankou was imprisoned in the Underworld by one of the last Sources, for contesting him in a powerful battle and trying to overtake the Underworld; he was recently released to wreak havoc upon the world again and destroy all that is good. He is able to take over other magical beings and demons' powers simply by killing them. His powers are hands down greater than any other demon, bar none, because the destruction he causes is comparable only to Shax but on a much grander scale.

The most intelligent, devious, cunning and crafty demon the Charmed Ones have ever faced, Zankou will do whatever it takes to get what he desires. He was able to use his expert-like understanding of human nature to successfully attack the Halliwell sisters psychologically.

Originally, he helped the Charmed Ones in their fight with the Avatars along with Leo Wyatt and Kyle Brody, realizing that their Utopia threatened the very survival of demonic existence (as well as the free will of all others, which he used to gain allies). After the threat of the Avatars had passed, Zankou began to mobilize the Underworld in hopes to control it. He attempted to steal the Book of Shadows on various occasions. He even hired a demonic alchemist to brainwash resurrected zombie innocents that the Charmed Ones were previously unable to save into attacking them (two of which he had killed that same week, one by his own hand, just for the occasion).

Because their emotions are tied to the Book of Shadows, when they became vulnerable, so did the Book, allowing Zankou to steal it during their battle with the zombified innocents. Using the potions in the Book of Shadows, Zankou stole Phoebe's power of premonition so that he could anticipate their attacks and see what they were doing to try to stop him. He then uses that to fool the sisters and is able to steal Piper's powers as well.

He was vanquished in the episode "Something Wicca This Way Goes" when he absorbed the Nexus into his body and the Charmed Ones cast a banishing spell to destroy it, thus destroying Zankou in the process.

Appendices

 * (Book of Shadows text:)



Zankou
 * One of the
 * most powerful Demons of
 * the Underworld,
 * Zankou is a threat
 * to all that is good
 * and feared even by his
 * own kind. So great
 * were his abilities
 * and ambitions, he
 * once contested
 * The Source for
 * control of the
 * Underworld.


 * (text unfinished.)

Trivia

 * Zankou Chicken is a small, family-owned chain of Middle-Eastern fast casual restaurants within the Los Angeles area that is specialized in rotisserie chicken. In "Charmageddon", Phoebe makes a reference to the restaurant by saying to Zankou, "What's the matter Zankou, chicken?"
 * In "Charmageddon", Zankou mentions Anubis. The jackal-headed god was also referenced in The Mummy Returns, which co-starred Oded Fehr.
 * It's possible that Zankou originally wasn't as powerful as he is now and got some of his powers from stealing them from other demons, like how he took his shapeshifting ability. He could have used that ability to steal multiple powers and eventually amassed all of the powers he possessed at the time of his death. This would actually justify the Source's need to imprison him in the past even more, via the implication that an already credible threat to his reign could drastically grow in power at any given time. This also suggests that if Zankou had been able to overthrow and become the Source, he would be truly invincible and the entire world possibly would've been covered in the dominance of evil centuries ago.
 * In the episode "Death Becomes Them", he gets an Alchemist to use deceased former innocents to take away their confidence. Coincidentally, they're like zombies, and Oded Fehr was in the Resident Evil films (Apocalypse & Extinction)
 * It is hinted in "Witchness Protection" that Zankou and the seer Kyra had a relationship.

Appearances
Zankou appeared in a total of 7 episodes throughout the course of the series.
 * Season 7 -
 * Witchness Protection
 * Ordinary Witches
 * Extreme Makeover: World Edition
 * Charmageddon
 * Scry Hard
 * Death Becomes Them
 * Something Wicca This Way Goes